The Wawona Tunnel Tree was a popular tourist attraction at Yosemite.
A picture of the tree in 2006. After it fell, the tree was nicknamed The Fallen Tunnel Tree.
Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park. It had a height of 227 feet (69 m) and was 90 ft (27 m) in circumference. A tunnel was cut through the tree in 1881, enlarging an existing fire scar. Two men were paid $75 for the job. The tree had a slight lean, which was increased when the tunnel was completed. The tree eventually became a popular tourist attraction. Often travelers would come to have their picture taken either driving through it or standing under-neath the tree. Throughout its history thousands of pictures were taken of it by tourists; it was photographed accommodating everything from horse drawn carriages in the late nineteenth century to then-modern automobiles in the 1960s.
Graphic of Wawona Tree from 1887.
The Wawona Tree fell in 1969 under an estimated two ton load of snow on its crown. The giant sequoia is estimated to have been 2,300 years old.
