How big does a giant sequoia get?
The largest sequoia is the General Sherman Tree. The General Sherman is 275 feet tall, has a circumference of 102 feet, and a diameter of 30 feet. At a height of 180 feet the General Sherman Tree maintains a 13 feet diameter. The Sherman Tree is the largest because it contains the largest volume of wood of any tree on earth. In 1987 it was estimated to contain 52,508 cubic feet of wood. The General Grant Tree has the greatest trunk diameter at 40.3 feet. An unnamed tree in the Alder Creek Grove has the largest trunk circumference at 155 feet. The tallest is a tie of two unnamed trees at 310 feet tall in Redwood Mountain Grove and South Calaveras Grove. Sequoias have the potential to grow even taller but they lose their tops to lightning strikes once they outgrow the surrounding trees usually at about 275 feet. The oldest living giant sequoia cannot be determined. The Chicago Stump ring count puts that tree at 3200 years at its untimely demise.
