Tunnel Trees in Mariposa Grove by Zina Abbott

I’m a day late getting my post up. With my husband as a willing accomplice, I played hooky in the form of taking one of our annual day trips, a visit to Yosemite National Park. Yesterday, our destination was Mariposa Grove in the southern border of the park.

Mariposa Grove is located near Wawona, California. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias, or Sequoiadendron giganteum, in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. 

My husband grew up in Merced County and visited Yosemite National Park, includng Mariposa Grove, frequently in his youth. I moved up this way later. In all the times I have been to Yosemite, I don’t recall having visited Mariposa Grove. Then, when he and I decided to visit this park attraction several years ago, we were told no. 

The Mariposa Grove was closed for three years for renovations. It reopened in June, 2018. Unfortunately, although we had been waiting those three years for Mariposa Grove to open, our 2018 trip to Yosemite National Park took place before the opening date. 

Things have changed. It used to be visitors could drive to the various famous and named trees within the grove. We can no longer do that. There is now a parking lot by the visitors center where people must leave their vehicles behind and board a shuttle bus to take them to the walking tour area. There are three walking tours available: one about .3 miles one way, one about 2 miles round trip, and one 8 miles round trip. We took the middle tour at the end of which was the surviving tunnel tree in Mariposa Grove.

At one time there were two tunnel trees.

Wawona Tunnel Tree

Wawona Tree 1887 Painting

The Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove until February, 1969. It had a height of 227 feet (69 m) and was 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at the base.

The origin of the word Wawona is not known. A popular story claims Wawō'na was the Miwok (a local Indian tribe who often inhabited Yosemite) word for "big tree", or for "hoot of the owl". Birds are considered the sequoia trees' spiritual guardian.

A tunnel was cut through the tree in 1881, enlarging an existing fire scar. Two men, the Scribner brothers, were paid $75 for the job (equivalent to $1,947 in 2018). The tree had a slight lean, which increased when the tunnel was completed. 

Created by the Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company as a tourist attraction, this human-made tunnel became immensely popular. Visitors were often photographed driving through or standing in the tunnel.

The following is from the book, The Pacific Coast Scenic Tour by Henry T. Finck published in 1890:

There is aflutter of excitement as we approach the Tunnel Tree, or Wawona (which is Indian for big tree), through which the stage drives as it stands, with horses, passengers, and all. The diameter of this tree at the ground is twenty-seven feet, or three feet less than the Grizzly Giant; the tunnel of which we go through it is ten feet high and from six to ten feet wide. Just as we drive into it, a poetic youth exclaims to his fair companion, Now look out for spiders!

Even President Theodore Roosevelt, during his 1903 visit to Yosemite National Park, traveled through the Wawona Tree Tunnel.

President Theodore Roosevelt traveling through Wawona Tunnel Tree- 1903

Maintaining the Wawona Tree was part of an effort by the Park Service to increase tourism in the age of the automobile. Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service, was a main supporter of building a tourist clientele for the parks, which would in turn attract increasing appropriations from Congress and establish the Park Service as a legitimate and noteworthy bureaucratic agency. 

1918- Automobile travels through Wawona Tunnel Tree

Mather and his chief aide, Horace Albright, who would also be his successor, worked to make the parks as accessible as possible and, with drive-through attractions such as the Tunnel Tree, as memorable as possible. Mather and Albright had already worked on the "See America First" campaign, trying to connect with western railroads to increase visitation to the parks.

Automobile by Wawona Tunnel Tree - 1929

In the 1920s, the Park Service actively promoted automobile tourism. Roads and roadside attractions bloomed on the sites of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. Roads, they believed, would also increase accessibility for "those who are not as strong and agile as you and I, for they too are entitled to their inspiration and enjoyment,"  

Fallen Tunnel Tree

After a heavy load of snow fell on its crown in February, 1969, the Wawona Tunnel Tree fell. It was estimated to have been 2,300 years old. At the time, the park service debated about what to do with it. It has remained where it fell primarily for ecological reasons. Because of their size, giant sequoias can create vast new ecosystems when they fall, providing habitat for insects and animals and allowing new plant growth. Currently, it is known as the Fallen Tunnel Tree and is still a tourist destination.

California Tunnel Tree

1920s Park Employee & passenger California Tree

A modest notice of both the Wawona Tree and another tunnel tree appears in the May 28, 1899 issue of a Sacramento Daily Union article: "In the lower grove there is another tree through which the wagon road runs. It is named California and is twenty-one feet in diameter at the base and 248 feet in height."

The California Tunnel Tree, whose passage was dug in 1895 as a novelty for stagecoach riders, is still standing. Visitors are allowed to walk through it. Evidently, while the Wawona Tunnel Tree still stood, the California Tunnel Tree got no respect from the historical photographers. Most images I found online were taken after the Wawona Tree toppled in 1962.

After we reached the California Tunnel Tree, both my husband and I decided whoever determined the length of this hike must have measured “as the crow flies.” We were sure it was longer than .9 miles. Since we live about 100 feet above sea level and this section of the park is about 5,500 feet elevation, it turned into quite a jaunt. Because we did not realize until after we arrived that visiting the trees in Mariposa Grove these days involves hiking, we did not bring water with us on the shuttle bus. Fortunately, a kind fellow hiker gave us a bottle of water. If you visit Mariposa Grove, be sure to bring water.

 

California Tunnel Tree today

 

We did make it to the California Tunnel Tree. My husband recalled being able to drive through this tunnel tree before they closed it to automobile traffic in 1969 or so. Here he and I are standing at the entrance.

For more images of tunnel trees, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

My next book, Escape from Gold Mountain, is set east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains slightly north and east of Yosemite National Park. This book is longer than most of my novels. Escape from Gold Mountain is currently available on pre-order at a special sale price that will continue until the day after the book releases on September 4, 2019. At that time it will be raised to its regular price. You may find the book description and purchase link by CLICKING HERE.

Sources:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/15/opening-date-announced-for-yosemites-famous-mariposa-grove/

https://hyperallergic.com/350561/drive-through-trees-in-pictures/

https://archive.org/details/pacificcoastscen00finc/page/n10