Profile of the Giant Forest Museum

GIANT FOREST MUSEUM IS SEQUOIA’S
NEWEST POPULAR VISITOR ATTRACTION

Following six years of visionary planning, design, restoration and new construction, the opening of the Giant Forest Museum on December 13, 2001, represents a significant milestone in the park's 15-year restoration project of Giant Forest.

The Giant Forest Museum project is a realization of two main objectives:

1). To offer park visitors topical information on sequoia trees leading to a better understanding and appreciation of their significance and ecological requirements/management needs, and  2). To transition the Giant Forest into a day-use area and restore it (as near as possible) to natural conditions following damage by early development.

The museum building was originally constructed in 1928 by the park's former concessionaire, Sequoia and General Grant National Parks Company. Designed by renowned architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood (best known for designing The Ahwahnee hotel in Yosemite National Park, Bryce Canyon Lodge and the Grand Canyon Lodge - North Rim), the building was in continuous use until 1998. Some of its former uses include serving as a guest registration office, a market, pizza restaurant and bar.

During the restoration into a museum, great care has been taken to preserve the building's historic style and much of the original fabric.  The structure's style is described as "national park rustic" with heavy timber and exposed frame. The original massive river rock fireplace has been preserved.

The museum's state-of-the-art visitor exhibits, entitled "Saving Sequoias: Lessons Learned in the Giant Forest," focus on the ecology of the historic trees. Some of the exhibits are hands-on and interactive in nature, covering the topics of where sequoias grow and why, their life history and close relationship with fire. In front of the museum, a ruler is built into the pavement marking the height and diameter of the Sentinel Tree. This measurement tool helps visitors to appreciate the size of the Sequoiadendron giganteum, more commonly known as the giant sequoia trees. A small bookstore, operated by the Sequoia Natural History Association, is located in the museum.

The museum also forms the hub for a series of connected hiking trails, several of which have been re-graded and paved to meet accessibility code standards. Along the trail route are interpretive exhibits that illustrate the climate, soil, sunshine, fire, water and human cooperation that these trees need to survive.  Maps of the area are posted at the Trail Center, outside the Museum.
 
The Museum is open to the public year-round, seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Admission is free of charge. The Museum is located on the Generals Highway, approximately one-hour north of the Ash Mountain entrance on Highway 198.

GIANT FOREST/WUKSACHI LODGE CHRONOLOGY

1890 – Sequoia National Park established

1898 – First tent cabins erected in Giant Forest

1903 – First road completed to Giant Forest

1903-1920 – Camp Sierra Resort develops

1921 – Camp Sierra renamed as Giant Forest Lodge

1926 – Generals Highway to Giant Forest completed

1926-1930 – Giant Forest Village constructed (Market constructed in 1928)

1928 – Park superintendent expresses doubt on the amount of development in Giant Forest; development continues despite concerns

1930’s – Giant Forest Lodge greatly expanded

1940’s-1960’s – No changes to facilities, area becoming increasingly congested

1974 – National Park Service proposes relocation of commercial facilities outside of Giant Forest; public approves of idea

1980 – Giant Forest/Lodgepole Development Concept Plan (DCP) approved; all commercial facilities to be removed from Giant Forest

1984 – National Park Service receives first funds to develop new commercial facilities site (Wuksachi Lodge)

1985-1997 – Development of Wuksachi continues

1994 – State of California orders closure of Giant Forest because of substandard sewage treatment plant; National Park Service negotiates 5 year phase-out

1995-1996 – First phases of phase-out achieved through water conservation

1997 – Historic portion of Giant Forest Lodge and Pinewood now closed to meet state requirements; work begins to raze facilities

1998 – (July 1) Delaware North Companies begins construction of Wuksachi Lodge

1998 – (October 31) Last facilities closed in Giant Forest; phase-out complete

1999 – (May) Delaware North Companies opens Wuksachi Lodge 

1999-2000 – Remaining old lodging facilities removed; historic market converted to museum

2001 – Giant Forest Museum opens to public

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Media Contact: Cynthia Fontayne, (310) 821-4678
Public Information: (866) 807-3598 or (559) 565-4070 or www.VisitSequoia.com