Parking
Start at the General Sherman Tree Main Parking Area off Wolverton Road. When snow closes that lot, access shifts to the Sherman Tree Accessible Parking Area on Generals Highway; it serves a separate, shorter route.
Overview
About General Sherman Tree Trail
Why go
- The descent gives you a top-to-bottom view of General Sherman.
- Benches and a seasonal shuttle make the uphill exit easier.
Heads up
- A short walk ends with a steep, stair-stepped uphill return.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Sequoia map
Full mapElevation6,841–7,067 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
8 active Sequoia alerts
- InfoGenerals Highway weekday hazard-tree removal delaysMentions Generals Highway, referenced in this guideExpect weekday delays of up to 30 minutes total on Generals Highway between Highway 180 and Giant Forest, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., while crews remove hazard trees; the highway remains open.Official details
- 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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Sequoia Tour Guide
Your drive to General Sherman Tree Trail, 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 tourRecorded for this trailhead
General Sherman Tree and Congress Trail0:00 / 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 this trailhead in the Parkwolf Sequoia Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Songbird That Dives
- Pinewood Picnic Area
- Wolverton Meadow and Lakes Trail
- The Red Plant Without Chlorophyll
- 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
“…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.”
Trail guide
Hiking General Sherman Tree Trail
What you are signing up forGeneral Sherman Tree Trail is a 1-mile out-and-back from the main Sherman Tree parking area off…
General Sherman Tree Trail is a 1-mile out-and-back from the main Sherman Tree parking area off Wolverton Road. The half-mile path drops on paved, stair-stepped tread through Giant Forest to General Sherman Tree; the return follows the same route uphill. Allow about 45 minutes for the walk and time by the tree. It is short, but it is no flat stroll: you start around 7,000 feet, and the stairs feel different on the climb back.
If steep stairs are not a fit, the separate accessible trail is about 500 feet from the Sherman Tree Accessible Parking Area on Generals Highway. In summer, a shuttle connects that trailhead with the accessible spaces in the main lot; in winter, parking for the accessible route is at the lower lot. That is a different approach from this trail.
Down through Giant ForestThe main path descends through other giant sequoias, with paved sections, stairs and benches…
The main path descends through other giant sequoias, with paved sections, stairs and benches along the way. As you lose height, you get a top-to-bottom view of the Sherman Tree and a glimpse into the grove canopy. At the bottom, look for the cut sequoia cross-section and the exhibits. Stay on the paved trail behind the fence around the tree; its roots are shallow and easily damaged.
The tree’s scaleGeneral Sherman stands about 275 feet tall and holds roughly 52,508 cubic feet of wood.
General Sherman stands about 275 feet tall and holds roughly 52,508 cubic feet of wood. The park estimates the trunk weighs nearly 1,400 tons, which is why this is the world’s largest tree by volume. Standing beside it makes the numbers hard to picture; the cross-section on the trail gives you another way to see the size.
Giant sequoias have thick bark that helps them survive moderate fires, but they are not fireproof. During the September 2021 KNP Complex Fire, crews wrapped the Sherman Tree’s vulnerable fire scars to reduce the chance of fire entering the trunk.
Plan the returnPlan on climbing back up the same stair-stepped route.
Plan on climbing back up the same stair-stepped route. When the free park shuttle is operating, usually from late May into early September, you can continue to the lower Generals Highway stop by the restrooms and ride back to the main lot; that adds a little walking but saves the uphill stretch. The main lot can close after snow accumulates, and winter access then shifts to the lower accessible lot. Pets are not allowed on park trails.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Sequoia
691 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
17 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
18 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
15 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
20 sightingsSpotted OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Sequoia. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
