The Freeman Creek trail located in the Giant Sequoia National Monument is a pretty unique trail that drops you down through the Freeman Grove of Giant Sequoia Redwoods. The size of these ancients of the woods will skew your perspective of big in regards to living things. This grove is the largest grove in wilderness condition (having never been logged) outside of the Sequoia National Park further to the north.
Here are some more of my ramblings on this trail
While the Bear Creek and Camp Nelson trails see more MTB action, this is a trail that is worth checking out if have the time. (At least based the last time I rode it)
Shortly after this video was shot in 2006, the trail was severely sanitized by a trail crew using a bull-dozer. The trail eventually eroded back into something akin to single-track. In 2020, a wildfire went through the grove. Some of my friends that live in the area have not been back on the trails since the fires but the area was hit pretty hard. Wildfires are part of the lifecycle of the Giant Sequoia’s so I suspect they survived.
At 6:18 you can really see how these trees are adept at surviving wildfires. It is worth noting that the rider (JD) is about 6’4″ to give some perspective on the size of that trunk.
At 7:14 there is a scene of me riding on a fallen log. The other rider on the trunk is 6′ tall. Take note of the perspective when I start to ride back and he is standing on the trunk part and I’m about to start rolling from the base/root part.
From 8:00 until the end of the video, we are actually riding a short section of the Summit Trail (FS 31E14) on our way back to the Quaken Aspens campground where we were staying.
While the Bear Creek and Camp Nelson trails see more MTB action, this is a trail that is worth checking out if have the time. (At least based the last time I rode it)
