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Jai Ganesh

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Registered: 2005-06-28

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Hyperion

Hyperion Tree

Gist

Hyperion, the world's tallest known living tree at over 379 feet, is located in a remote area of Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. To protect the fragile ecosystem and the tree from damage, its precise location is not disclosed, and visiting it is strictly prohibited, with violators facing fines up to $5000  and potential jail time.

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006, by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. It was found in a remote area of Redwood National Park that was part of the original 1968 park boundaries. It is estimated to be 600 to 800 years old and contain 530 m^3 (18,600 cu ft) of wood.

Summary

‘Hyperion’ in Redwood national park, 380ft high and up to 800 years old, now off limits after damage done by trampling visitors.

Tree enthusiasts who make the trek to the world’s tallest tree deep in a northern California forest will face a fine and possible jail time after park officials declared the remote area off-limits because of damage done by trampling visitors to the tree and surrounding forest, a park official said on Monday.

The tree, a 380ft (115m) coast redwood, is in a remote area of Redwood national park and is not accessible by any trail. But that hasn’t stopped scores of visitors from hiking to the tree, said Leonel Arguello, the park’s manager for natural resources.

Arguello said the tree, known as Hyperion, was “discovered” by two amateur naturalists in 2006. By 2010, visitors started trekking to see the tall, skinny redwood after bloggers, travel writers and others shared its exact location online. In 2019, Guinness World Records declared the tree, estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old, the tallest in the world.

Tree enthusiasts who make the trek to the world’s tallest tree deep in a northern California forest will face a fine and possible jail time after park officials declared the remote area off-limits because of damage done by trampling visitors to the tree and surrounding forest, a park official said on Monday.

The tree, a 380ft (115m) coast redwood, is in a remote area of Redwood national park and is not accessible by any trail. But that hasn’t stopped scores of visitors from hiking to the tree, said Leonel Arguello, the park’s manager for natural resources.

Arguello said the tree, known as Hyperion, was “discovered” by two amateur naturalists in 2006. By 2010, visitors started trekking to see the tall, skinny redwood after bloggers, travel writers and others shared its exact location online. In 2019, Guinness World Records declared the tree, estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old, the tallest in the world.

Hikers have bushwhacked off-trail into dense vegetation to reach the tree, making many social trails. The tree has also been damaged by visitors who step on its base. The area around the tree no longer has ferns due to trampling, Arguello said.

“The social trails have grown in number, the amount of garbage has increased, there’s human waste that has been seen, and as more people go up to this tree, they create more social trails and all of that is having damage impacts to the vegetation, to the soils and, and all of the garbage just sits out there,” he said.

Details

Hyperion is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens D.Don, Endl.) tree in California, which is the world's tallest known living tree, measured at 116.22 metres (381.3 ft) tall in 2026.

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006, by the naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. The tree height of 115.55 m (379.1 ft) was verified by Stephen Sillett in 2006 by use of both a laser range finder and a fiberglass tape to measure the tree from the base to the crown. The tree has grown since then to reach 116.07 metres (380.8 ft) recorded in 2019. Hyperion was found in a remote area of Redwood National Park, inside of the originally designated park boundaries of 1968.[9] The park also houses the second-, fourth- and fifth-tallest known trees, coast redwoods named Helios, Icarus, and Daedalus, which respectively measured 377, 371 and 363 feet in 2022.

The tree was named after the titan Hyperion from Greek mythology.

Hyperion is estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old and contain 530 m^3 (18,600 ft3) of wood; it was seeded when the Chilula (a Pacific Coast Athabaskan people) inhabited the region.

The exact location of Hyperion is nominally secret but is available via internet search. However, in July 2022, the Redwood Park superintendent closed the entire area around the tree, citing "devastation of the habitat surrounding Hyperion" caused by visitors. Its base was trampled by the overuse and as a result ferns no longer grow around the tree.

Measures to protect the Hyperion tree were officially implemented in 2022 when the National Park Service (NPS) closed public access to its location in Redwood National Park. Individuals who enter the closed area could face up to six months in jail and a $5,000 maximum fine.

Additional Information

Here at Verdissimo, the world’s largest producer of preserved plants and flowers, we’d like to tell you about Hyperion, the tree which, at a height of 115.55 meters (397.1 feet), has been recognized as the tallest tree in the world.

Hyperion is a Sequoia sempervirens, a plant which belongs to the Cupressaceae family. Sequoia sempervirens is commonly known as coast redwood or California redwood, since the vast majority of them are located there.

They are among the most long-lived trees in existence: their maximum lifespan can be anywhere from 2000 to 3000 years, during which time period they can grow to great heights.

The Location of the Hyperion Tree

Hyperion was discovered in August of 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor in Redwood National Park while they were they were hiking.

Redwood National Park is in the United States, specifically, in California, in Humboldt County and Del Norte County. Along with state parks Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek, Redwood National Park occupies an area of 540 km2.

About 45% of the redwood forests in the whole world are contained within these parks, and one of the highlights for many hikers is Hyperion, due to its great size.

Why Was It Named “Hyperion”?

The name “Hyperion” is meant to compare it to a titan of the same name from Greek mythology.

Hyperion, as the son of Uranus (god of the sky) and Gaea (goddess of the earth) was known as “he who walks in the high places” and “he who appears before the sun.” He was one of the twelve titans, and was considered to be a god of watchfulness, which is a good fit for the tallest tree on the planet, which seems to keep watch over its surroundings from its impressive, dominating height.

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