A tiny town just inside the southern boundaries of Yosemite National Park is Wawona, California. There are less than 200 people that live there all year. Sense the main trail heads into the southern Yosemite Park are in the area this number increases considerably during tourist seasons.
The Wawona Tunnel Tree was a 227 feet high Giant Sequoia tree that used to stand in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, located at the southern tip of Yosemite Park. The tree stood for eighty-eight years until it collapsed, and became known as the Wawona Fallen Tunnel Tree. Concurring in almost all checked sources, Wawona means Big Tree to the tribe of Southern Sierra Miwok. Other sources say that Wawona is the Native American word for Hoot of the Owl and that owls were considered the spiritual guardians of trees.
A tunnel was cut through the tree where a fire scar already existed, making the Wawona Tunnel Tree a popular tourist attraction in 1881. The tunnel was 7 feet tall, 9 feet in width and 26 feet in length at the bottom, and there are many pictures of visitors passing into it with horses and carts in the past, as well as when time went by they drove cars through it. In 1969, the 2,300 year old tree crashed due to an intense snowfall. The largest trees in the world are Giant Sequoias and Wawona Tunnel Tree actually was one of the oldest and largest known Giant Sequioa. Currently, the oldest existing tree is 3,500 years old. Fallen Wawona is a Famous Fallen Tunnel Tree lies on the forest floor where it fell and it is still an impressive sight.
Cutting tunnels through Giant Sequoia trees used to be a popular way of drawing tourists to National Parks. At that time, National Parks were appreciated more for their individual features than as part of an eco-system, or a complete environment. The National Parks make it their goal to keep nature in its purest state with minimal human meddling.
The National Parks wildlife preserve was noticed by the fall of the Wawona Tunnel Tree. The Park Service began to protect the Giant Sequoia tree in 1970. The Sequoias therefore need natural wildfires to prevent the shade-loving species from crowding out young sequoia seedlings,sense the seeds of these trees can only grow in full sunlight, free from competing vegetation. The controlled burns of sequoia groves began in the 1970s which were managed by the National Park Service. Now, they let natural fires burn, too.
The Accommodations of Wawona
If you would like to visit the Mariposa Grove and the Wawona area, several accommodation options are available to you. Within the Yosemite National Park borders there are a number of privately owned rental cabins and camping facilities are available all year round too, some require reservations during certain times of the year.
Wawona Hotel offers an experience to remember. Located four miles within the Parks southern entrance, between the Mariposa Grove and the Yosemite Valley, it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and it is one of the oldest mountain resort hotels in the state. Below is a brief history of this interesting hotel.
* In 1855, a miner by the name of Galen Clark passed through the Wawona area on his way to Yosemite Valley. Struck by the beauty of the place, he returned a year later and built a log cabin near a spring, which later became a wayside hotel, Clark's Station.
* Clark's hotel changed it's name to the Big Tree Station and moved it to the far side of the meadow sometime around 1860.
* After the opening of the original Wawona Road in 1875,the Washburn brothers purchased the area along with Clark's Station. A kitchen fire in 1878 destroyed most of the old buildings with the exception a building called Long White. Long White, once called Clark's Cottage, is still part of the Wawona Hotel. This large two-story building contains twenty-five guest rooms and opened sometime around 1879. The Wawona Hotel was what the name changed to in 1884 and in 1932, when the Wawona Valley area was added to Yosemite National Park it changed again to Yosemite Park & Curry Co. took over the operation of the hotel. Today, Wawona Hotel is operated by DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite.
* There are 104 guest rooms housed in 6 different New England-style buildings in the Wawona Hotel. Most of the rooms open onto lovely, lazy old style verandas. No telephones or televisions exist at the hotel to distract visitors from the scenic splendor. However, one of the oldest golf courses in the Sierras, dating back to 1918, is just across the street. - 16492
The Wawona Tunnel Tree was a 227 feet high Giant Sequoia tree that used to stand in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, located at the southern tip of Yosemite Park. The tree stood for eighty-eight years until it collapsed, and became known as the Wawona Fallen Tunnel Tree. Concurring in almost all checked sources, Wawona means Big Tree to the tribe of Southern Sierra Miwok. Other sources say that Wawona is the Native American word for Hoot of the Owl and that owls were considered the spiritual guardians of trees.
A tunnel was cut through the tree where a fire scar already existed, making the Wawona Tunnel Tree a popular tourist attraction in 1881. The tunnel was 7 feet tall, 9 feet in width and 26 feet in length at the bottom, and there are many pictures of visitors passing into it with horses and carts in the past, as well as when time went by they drove cars through it. In 1969, the 2,300 year old tree crashed due to an intense snowfall. The largest trees in the world are Giant Sequoias and Wawona Tunnel Tree actually was one of the oldest and largest known Giant Sequioa. Currently, the oldest existing tree is 3,500 years old. Fallen Wawona is a Famous Fallen Tunnel Tree lies on the forest floor where it fell and it is still an impressive sight.
Cutting tunnels through Giant Sequoia trees used to be a popular way of drawing tourists to National Parks. At that time, National Parks were appreciated more for their individual features than as part of an eco-system, or a complete environment. The National Parks make it their goal to keep nature in its purest state with minimal human meddling.
The National Parks wildlife preserve was noticed by the fall of the Wawona Tunnel Tree. The Park Service began to protect the Giant Sequoia tree in 1970. The Sequoias therefore need natural wildfires to prevent the shade-loving species from crowding out young sequoia seedlings,sense the seeds of these trees can only grow in full sunlight, free from competing vegetation. The controlled burns of sequoia groves began in the 1970s which were managed by the National Park Service. Now, they let natural fires burn, too.
The Accommodations of Wawona
If you would like to visit the Mariposa Grove and the Wawona area, several accommodation options are available to you. Within the Yosemite National Park borders there are a number of privately owned rental cabins and camping facilities are available all year round too, some require reservations during certain times of the year.
Wawona Hotel offers an experience to remember. Located four miles within the Parks southern entrance, between the Mariposa Grove and the Yosemite Valley, it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and it is one of the oldest mountain resort hotels in the state. Below is a brief history of this interesting hotel.
* In 1855, a miner by the name of Galen Clark passed through the Wawona area on his way to Yosemite Valley. Struck by the beauty of the place, he returned a year later and built a log cabin near a spring, which later became a wayside hotel, Clark's Station.
* Clark's hotel changed it's name to the Big Tree Station and moved it to the far side of the meadow sometime around 1860.
* After the opening of the original Wawona Road in 1875,the Washburn brothers purchased the area along with Clark's Station. A kitchen fire in 1878 destroyed most of the old buildings with the exception a building called Long White. Long White, once called Clark's Cottage, is still part of the Wawona Hotel. This large two-story building contains twenty-five guest rooms and opened sometime around 1879. The Wawona Hotel was what the name changed to in 1884 and in 1932, when the Wawona Valley area was added to Yosemite National Park it changed again to Yosemite Park & Curry Co. took over the operation of the hotel. Today, Wawona Hotel is operated by DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite.
* There are 104 guest rooms housed in 6 different New England-style buildings in the Wawona Hotel. Most of the rooms open onto lovely, lazy old style verandas. No telephones or televisions exist at the hotel to distract visitors from the scenic splendor. However, one of the oldest golf courses in the Sierras, dating back to 1918, is just across the street. - 16492
