This Central Valley National Park is now 133 years old

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – One of the Central Valley’s National Parks is celebrating a big birthday on Monday.

According to park officials, Sequoia National Park is 133 years old.

On September 25, 1890, records show that President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation establishing America’s second national park. Created to protect the giant sequoia trees from logging, records state that Sequoia National Park was also the first national park formed to protect a living organism – Sequoiadendron giganteum.

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However, early access to the Giant Forest to see the sequoia trees was limited to little more than a pack road, unlike the current access we have today.

Under the leadership of then-Captain Charles Young, a road to the Giant Forest was completed in August 1903 and for the first time the “big trees” were accessible by wagon.

The growing popularity of automobile travel and interest in the forest led to the building of the Generals Highway in 1926 opening up the Giant Forest to increased visitation. The Ash Mountain entrance became the main gateway to Sequoia but even in 1927, records show that park visitors sometimes experienced traffic at the check-in station just as we still do 133 years later.

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One of the first projects undertaken by the New National Park Service in 1917 was the construction of the first steps to the summit of Moro Rock.

Park officials say over the past 125 years, these parks have grown to 1,353 square miles with 97% designated and managed as wilderness and more than 1.5 million people visit these parks each year.

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