Well,.. in California (USA) it's still possible! If you drive north on Route 101 you'll reach the old growth Redwood Groves of Sequoia Sempervirens.
They are the biggest trees in the world: the giant redwoods of Northern California. Unlike our own local oaks, these wizened sentinels -- many living when Columbus found the New World -- are big enough to drive through. That is, if a car-sized hole has been bored in the center of them first.
In the last century some of them were unfortunately cut down because of safety reasons. Some of them were saved for prosperity in private parks, but a few can still be visited.
Enjoy,
HK
The Wawona Tree at Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, CA. The tunnel was completed in 1881. Unfortunately the tree fell in 1969.The famous "Wawona" tree was 227 feet tall, and 90 feet in circumference. In the Mariposa Grove more than six hundred giant Sequoias have been growing here for centuries....the earth's largest and oldest trees.
The opening in the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree was carved in the 1930's. At approximately 6' wide by 6'9" high there is ample space for the cars of today to pass through the tunnel. The Chandelier Tree can be found at Legett, California.
The Tunnel Tree at Sequoia National Park.
The Coolidge Tree was located in Underwood Park, about 185 miles North of San Francisco on Redwood Highway. Unfortunately the Coolidge Tree was cut down.
The Shrine Tree at Myers Flat, California can still be visited in season too. Steel cables securely anchor the tree. In 2003, the owners pointed out they hadn't detected any measurable movement in their monolith, or anything that would discourage tourists from coming to Myers Flat.
The Drive-Thru Stump or Drive-Way Stump, located ath the Redwood Shop in Pepperwood, California, was blown up with dynamite after World War II.
The first photo.....amazing......that's my old beetle,Kupla, Kever..... same color
ReplyDeleteWhowwwwwww.
we should get an american partner for the man and tree project :P
ReplyDeleteI will be in America from July 11 through August 29 and will be visiting (staying at) High Schools and Colleges for 4 weeks...
ReplyDeleteI think I can do some research! (but then we'd lose the European character of the project)
Great collection of shots! It is amazing what trees can survive. :)
ReplyDeleteFor the 37th Edition of the Festival of the Trees blog carnival, we tried to focus on "Survivor Trees". Your Drive-Thru trees fit in well with the theme!
http://tgaw.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/festival-of-the-trees-edition-37/
this is a great article. i learned about the large monoliths in 4thgrade and always wanted to visit that forest and drive thru a tree.
ReplyDeleteMaybe no movement is detected the the Shrine Tree for lean, but its probably slowly collapsing. At only 136 feet tall (I measured with laser last Dec.) with the cracks, the future looks short. The best looking of all 3 is the Chandelier redwood. The Tour Thru looked pretty solid too.
ReplyDeleteMDV