The tallest known living tree on Earth grows inside one of America’s national parks, but getting close enough to see it can land you in legal trouble.
Hyperion is a coast redwood growing in California’s Redwood National Park. The tree measured 380 feet, 9.7 inches tall when it was last officially measured in 2019, according to Guinness World Records. That makes Hyperion taller than the Statue of Liberty from the ground to the tip of her torch.
Its exact location is deliberately kept out of public park information, and the National Park Service currently prohibits visitors from entering the area surrounding the tree. Hiking inside the closure can result in a fine or jail time.
The unusual restriction was put in place after visitors seeking out the world’s tallest tree began damaging the forest around it.
Too Many People Went Looking For Hyperion
Hyperion was documented by tree hunters Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in 2006. The discovery eventually spread online, and finding the giant redwood became a bucket-list objective for some visitors. There was one major problem, there was no trail to it.
Reaching Hyperion required people to leave established trails and bushwhack through dense old-growth forest. As more visitors attempted the journey, unofficial paths began forming through vegetation surrounding the tree.
According to the National Park Service’s current Hyperion guidance, hikers trampled and in some cases killed native vegetation around the tree. Ferns that once covered the area around Hyperion’s base have disappeared because of foot traffic, while soil compaction can damage the shallow root systems that sustain coast redwoods. Park officials have also found trash and human waste along the unofficial route.
The damage eventually prompted the park to close the surrounding area to public access. The closure was announced in 2022, and the National Park Service still lists the Hyperion area as closed.
The World’s Tallest Tree Doesn’t Look That Tall From The Ground
Perhaps the strangest part of the story is that hikers who ignored the closure might not even get the experience they were expecting. The National Park Service is unusually direct about Hyperion’s appeal from ground level.
“A view of Hyperion doesn’t match its hype.”
Unlike some enormous old-growth redwoods, Hyperion does not have an especially massive trunk. Its roughly 16-foot diameter is relatively modest compared with some other ancient redwoods, and the forest canopy makes it impossible to appreciate its full height while standing beneath it.
Hyperion’s record comes from its extraordinary vertical growth. Guinness World Records lists the tree at 380 feet, 9.7 inches tall, with a crown stretching nearly 300 vertical feet from its first foliage to its top. The tree is estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old.
Even the record may not last forever. The National Park Service notes that redwoods frequently lose portions of their crowns to wind and lightning. Trees can regrow after losing their tops, but they do not necessarily regain their former height, meaning the title of world’s tallest tree can change.
That uncertainty is another reason the park has little interest in constructing a permanent trail to Hyperion.
There Are Better Ways To See Giant Redwoods
Redwood National and State Parks are not trying to prevent visitors from experiencing enormous old-growth trees. They are trying to keep people on routes designed to handle the traffic.
The park system has more than 100 miles of maintained trails through old-growth redwood forest, including areas where visitors can legally walk among trees that are far more imposing from ground level than Hyperion.
One example is the Grove of Titans in nearby Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. That grove experienced similar damage after its once-secret location became widely shared online. Rather than allowing visitors to continue creating unofficial paths, park managers eventually built an elevated boardwalk that provides access while protecting the forest floor beneath it. The Grove of Titans reopened with the new boardwalk in 2022.
Visitors can also access the Tall Trees Grove through a free reservation system. The grove offers an opportunity to see enormous old-growth coast redwoods without damaging closed habitat. Reservations are available through Redwood National and State Parks.
Hyperion may hold the record, but the National Park Service’s message is straightforward: there are hundreds of giant redwoods visitors can legally experience without bushwhacking through fragile forest to stand beneath one particular tree.
For now, the world’s tallest known living tree is best appreciated by leaving it alone.
