Dyerville Giant .. fallen coast redwood

Founders Grove .. Avenue of the Giants

by Mario Vaden

 

The Dyerville Giant is located along Avenue of the Giants, at Founders Grove. It used to be one of the tallest known Coast Redwoods, standing firm through many centuries of storms. But March 24, 1991, stormy winds finally knocked it over. The redwood was discovered around 1966 by Paul Zinke, a University of California scientist. After if fell, two explorers, Michael Taylor and Ron Hildebrant, teamed-up to calculate height using marks on the adjacent "Cat Scratch" redwood. Taylor and Hildebrant realized the fallen Dyerville Giant was actually an unknown world record. Taylor and Hildebrant determined that Dyerville Giant was over 370 ft. tall when it fell.

advertisement

The trunk is easy to reach and worth the visit. It is almost a world record log for length. Between Fortuna and Garberville, California, get off Hy. 101 and onto 254 or Avenue of the Giants. Follow it to Dyerville Rd., close to where Bull Creek meets the Eel River. Turn east onto Dyerville Rd., use the parking for Founders Grove, and follow the paths South x Southwest for a few hundred feet. The photo below is the underside of the root system.