John Muir's favorite sequoia grove … east of Porterville - Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, California

Sunset, June, 1988

John Muir's

It's Mountain Home When John Muir roamed the Sierra Nevada, he believed the Sequoiadendron giganteum grew "more irrepressively exuberant" the farther south he traveled. The finest stand of all towered near the southern edge of the tree's range, on the North Fork of the Tule River. "In the northern groves," he wrote, "there are comparatively few young trees or saplings. But here for every old storm-stricken giant there are many in all the glory of prime vigor, and for each of these there is a crowd of eager, hopeful young trees and saplings." Muir's favorite grove is today enshrined in Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, one of four demonstration forests managed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. About 8 crow-flying miles from the southern border of Sequoia National Park, 4,500-acre Mountain Home and Balch Park, the 160-acre Tulare County park it surrounds, receive much less attention than their famous neighbor. Indeed, June weekdays can be downright quiet here. Gateway to Mountain Home is Porterville, 15 miles east of State Highway 99. It's about 2 1/2 hours north of Los Angeles and 4 hours south of the Bay Area. From there, go 17 miles east on State Highway 190, passing the little resort town of Springville. Drive north on County Road J37 for 3 1/2 miles, then east 18 miles on Bear Creek Road, which narrows and winds higher into the big trees.

PHOTO : Redwood pillars tower over horseback visitors to Mountain Home; state forest contains

PHOTO : 5,000 specimens of old-growth sequoia, countless younger trees

PHOTO : Boulder-strewn Wishon Fork of Tule River flows through eastern portion of forest