Tragically, Converse Basin once contained the world’s largest grove of mature sequoias, but it’s now an unsettling cemetery for tree stumps. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the entire privately owned grove was felled by lumber companies. A financial boondoggle, in part because of high transportation costs, the trees ravaged in this grove were not even suitable for lumber, and many shattered when they hit the ground. Most of the salvageable wood ended up as fence posts and matches.
The only survivor left is a colossus called the Boole Tree . The sixth-largest known giant sequoia, it’s ironically named for the lumber mill’s foreman, and for reasons unknown it was left to live. A 2.5-mile loop hike reaches it from the dirt access road to the trailhead; bring plenty of water and insect repellant. On the way in, stop at Stump Meadow to see the oversized remains of 19th-century logging.
Off another dirt road further south, the 20ft-high Chicago Stump is all that’s left of the once-mighty 3200-year-old General Noble tree. The 285ft giant was cut into sections and transported to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago to demonstrate the unbelievable scale of the newly discovered giant sequoia trees. Dubious viewers soon nicknamed it the ‘California hoax’!
The roads to the Boole Tree and the Chicago Stump are unpaved, and the turnoff signs are hard to spot. The Chicago Stump turnoff is next to a stone marker at a four-way intersection off Hwy 180, about 3 miles north of Grant Grove Village; from there, it’s another 2 miles to the trailhead, then an easy 0.5-mile loop walk. The last quarter-mile of road is somewhat steep; consider parking in the turnout just before the descent if it’s muddy or you don’t have 4WD. The turnoff for the Boole Tree road is 1.2 miles further north along Hwy 180; the trailhead is another 2.5 miles in, with the last half-mile often in rough, slippery and sandy condition that may require 4WD.
