Calaveras Giants

Hike Among Giant Sequoia Redwoods in Calaveras Big Trees State Park

07.20.2022

Contending as some of the tallest, mightiest, and most muscular spectacles in the state are the hulking (and beautiful) trees just twenty minutes up the road from the gold country town of Murphys in Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Grab your fleece, a snack, and a bottle of water, then hit the trail for spectacular groves of giant sequoia redwoods.

The most popular trail here is the North Grove, where you can wax wondrous among the trees. To escape the crowded North Grove, go eight miles deeper into the park on Memorial Parkway Road to the South Grove.

It’s a 3.5- to 5-mile round trip (depending on your route; pick up a map on-site in the visitors center or the front building). We recommend a loop hike out to the Agassiz Tree—at 25 feet in diameter and 250 feet tall, it’s the grand giant of these grand giants. 

TIP: There are plenty of fire roads in this park as well, ideal for mountain bikers and dog-walking.

BONUS: For California State Parks Week (June 14 - 18, 2023), Calaveras Big Trees State Park is hosting the Fire and the Forest Community Guided Hike (June 16), among other events.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park is about twenty minutes east of Murphys on Highway 4.

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories

  1. Can't Top This

    San Francisco’s Presidio was already a fantastic place to hang out for the afternoon, a beautiful site within the largest urban national park in the United States (the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). And Presidio Tunnel Tops is like a cherry on top. Make that two cherries on top, with the newly opened (July 2025) Outpost Meadow, a 1.5-acre green space located at Old Mason Street across from the Crissy Field Marsh in the Presidio.

    View

  2. This Is Paradise

    Granite mountain-scape, superb sunset views, crystal lakes, and shoreline campsites … the trip to Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest lives up to its idyllic name.

    View

  3. Aloha from California

    Say Aloha without leaving California with a 7-mile out-and-back hiking adventure to Lake Aloha in El Dorado National Forest. You can also camp here, a premier place for stargazing.

    View

  4. Sequoia Re-opens Crystal Cave

    Step inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park's hidden world by visiting the newly re-opened Crystal Cave—the only cave in the parks open to the public. Closed for four years, this rare marble karst cavern is welcoming visitors once again, but only through the summer season!

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories

  1. Hot As (Bumpass) Hell

    So you like going to all the hot spots when you visit places? Well, in Lassen Volcanic National Park there’s a place so hot it gets downright steamy. Bumpass Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in the park, with sputtering mud pots, sulfur vents, and boiling pools. It’s California’s Yellowstone. But it only opens in summer through fall.

    View

  2. Underground Garden

    Looking to escape the summer heat? Head to Fresno and discover its cool secret: the Forestiere Underground Gardens–an enchanting garden and architecture oasis like no other.

    View

  3. Oh Ryan

    Sure, it’s those whimsical trees that give Joshua Tree National Park its marquee billing; but this beautiful landscape also has surrounding mountains and its night sky—one of the darkest in Southern California and designated an International Dark Sky Park. Joshua Tree has four allowable stargazing parking lots, and a newly opened haven for spending the night nearby...

    View

  4. Easiest Best Hike in the World

    Choose the easiest and most view-rewarding hike in Yosemite. Okay, we’ll go first: the combination of hiking to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. Both of these lookouts are within a couple miles of each other on Glacier Point Road

    View