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The Senate in Sequoia National Park

#10 of 45 sights in Sequoia

Sight · Sequoia National Park

The Senate

Several giant sequoias gather along the Congress Trail.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
0.4 mi
Audio stories
11 nearby
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

General Sherman Tree and Congress Trail

Overview

About The Senate

Why stop

  • A close group of mature sequoias gives you a different stop from Sherman.

Heads up

  • It takes the 2.7-mile Congress Trail loop to visit.

Map

Where it is

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Full map
SightThe Senate36.57278, -118.74946
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Plan your stop

Before you go

8 active Sequoia alerts

  • CautionStage 1 fire restrictionsStage 1 fire restrictions are in effect due to high fire danger and catastrophic-wildfire risk; the restrictions reduce the possibility of accidental human-caused fires that could threaten visitors…Official details
  • ClosureGrant Grove trails and areas closed for prescribed burnSome trails and areas around Grant Grove and the General Grant Tree are closed for safety during a prescribed burn and until they are cleared of hazards.Official details
See all 8 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Sequoia Tour Guide

Your drive to The Senate, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Sequoia National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

See the Sequoia audio tour

Recorded for this place

General Sherman Tree and Congress Trail
0:00 / 0:35
“You're coming up on the General Sherman Tree area, home to the world's largest tree by trunk volume.”

Plays as you drive up to The Senate in the Parkwolf Sequoia Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Pinewood Picnic Area
  • Crescent Meadow and Tharp’s Log
  • The Songbird That Dives
  • Giant Forest Museum and Round Meadow
  • 71 audio storiesacross Sequoia’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Mountain Lion, Bobcat, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 99 trails, 68 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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“…The kids and my husband and I all agree that the narration really added to our experience driving through the parks. We learned so much about the history and the flora & fauna.”
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Guide

More about The Senate

A grove of its ownThe Senate is a named group of mature giant sequoias in Giant Forest, one of the collections of…

The Senate is a named group of mature giant sequoias in Giant Forest, one of the collections of trees along Congress Trail. General Sherman is the famous single-tree stop; the Senate is a worthwhile continuation if you want to compare several towering trunks together. Their close grouping gives this stop a different feel from standing beside one tree at a time.

Keep going on Congress TrailTreat it as a stop on a 2.7-mile round-trip loop that begins near General Sherman Tree.

Treat it as a stop on a 2.7-mile round-trip loop that begins near General Sherman Tree. The trail is lollipop-shaped, paved and gently inclined. The Senate is reached on foot along the loop, not from a roadside pullout, so plan for the full walk rather than a quick photo stop.

Frame the groupTake a few steps back and fit several trunks in one frame; that shows what makes this group…

Take a few steps back and fit several trunks in one frame; that shows what makes this group distinctive better than isolating a single tree. Look across the marked bark at the bases, then up between the trunks to see how they rise together.

giantsequoiaforesttreesphotography

Wildlife

Wildlife in Sequoia

All Sequoia wildlife maps
Black Bear691 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapMountain Lion17 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapBobcat18 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapCoyote24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapGolden Eagle15 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSpotted Owl20 sightingsSpotted OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Sequoia. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near The Senate

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateRimrock Trail1.2 mi · 45 min · 0.4 mi awayA narrow hillside path past Lincoln Tree and fallen sequoias.EasyWashington Tree Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.7 mi awayA short forest walk to a sequoia with a turbulent past.EasyCongress Trail2.7 mi · 2 hr · 0.9 mi awayPaved 2.7-mile loop past President Tree, House and Senate groves.ModerateGeneral Sherman Tree Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.9 mi awayA stair-stepped descent reaches the world’s largest tree by volume.EasyHazelwood Nature Trail0.5 mi · 36 min · 1 mi awayA short loop for sequoias, meadow plants, and a creek footbridge.EasyHuckleberry Trail Loop4 mi · 2.5 hr · 1 mi awayA sequoia forest loop linking two meadows and a historic cabin.ModerateSoldiers Trail1.6 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.2 mi awayA short, steep sequoia walk ending at Moro Rock parking.EasyBig Trees Trail0.7 mi · 1 hr · 1.2 mi awayA gentle circuit beneath sequoias, with the meadow at your feet.

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.1 mi awayPresident TreeOne of the world's largest sequoias, reached on Congress Trail.Sight · 0.1 mi awayThe HouseNamed for Congress, ringed by towering sequoia trunks.Sight · 0.6 mi awayGeneral Sherman TreeSee the world's largest tree by trunk volume up closeSight · 0.9 mi awayChimney TreeStep inside the hollow left by a 1914 fire.Picnic area · 0.9 mi awayPinewood Picnic AreaA shaded lunch break between Giant Forest and Lodgepole.Sight · 0.9 mi awayTharp's LogA 70-foot sequoia log became a summer cabin.Sight · 1 mi awaySquatters CabinA tiny log cabin anchors a larger Kaweah Colony story.Sight · 1.1 mi awayCrescent MeadowAn open meadow framed by giant sequoias, with two memorable tree stops.

Parkwolf’s Sequoia ranking

Top sights in Sequoia

All 68 places
  1. 1General Sherman TreeSight
  2. 2Moro RockSight
  3. 3Crystal CaveSight
  4. 4Crescent MeadowSight
  5. 5Tokopah FallsSight
  6. 6Tunnel LogSight

Take Parkwolf to Sequoia.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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