Mapping The Giant Sequoias Of Victoria, BC

This map is interactive - click on the tree icons and get more information about specific sequoias. View a larger version of the map here: "Giant Sequoias In Victoria".

The same mild climate that grows the fattest, tallest native trees in Canada, also nurtures some amazing exotic trees on south Vancouver Island. A case in point are the Giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), many of which were transported here as seedlings over 100 years ago by settlers from California.

So loved were these California native trees that many made the journey north, and many were successfully planted. In just over a century some of these seedlings have reached, well, giant proportions.

The tallest and widest trees in Victoria are both sequoias which is not surprising considering this tree species is the largest in the world. Also not surprising is the fact that people are still loving these trees after 150 years of occupying their new home.

They are among the most photographed single trees in the area. My post on The Giant Sequoias Of Beacon Hill Park is the most viewed of all time on this blog. They are unique in this region and are far from their traditional range, making them of special interest.

The native range of the Giant sequoia is very restricted,
but they do grow successfully in Victoria, BC.

Giant sequoia occurs naturally only in California in a narrow band of mixed conifer forest, between 5,000-8,000 ft. elevation on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada. Climatically, the Giant sequoia prefers the "Cool Summer Mediterranean" (Csb) climate.

Giant sequoia in its natural California Sierra Nevada range.

Victoria has a Mediterranean climate, and although we are north of their northern limits, the sequoias have done well here.

This Giant sequoia at the residential intersection of Moss and Richardson is the
tallest sequoia in the Victoria area at about 50 meters tall.

I am in the process of mapping the sequoias in the Victoria area that I am familiar with from wandering about town. Many I have found simply by driving around and looking for the tallest trees on the horizon, then navigating to their base for photos. But there are always more trees to be found.

Lately I have been cruising around town using Google Maps instead of my truck to see if I can find more of these big trees. I figure that Google has the cash - let them pay for the gas. I can also get reasonable photos by taking screenshots while on Street View.

A large sequoia on Douglas Street across from Beacon Hill Park.

Using the above map one could set up a walking, cycling, rolling, or driving tour of interesting sequoias in the downtown area.

Not downtown? Chances are there is a Giant sequoia in a neighbourhood near you. Check the map.

This beauty is at the intersection of Jutland and Burnside Rds - I added it to the map
after a reader mentioned it in a comment below.

There is even a small sequoia down the street from where I live in Sooke. It is a mere baby only a few decades old and stands at a tiny 10m (30ft) in height. Eventually it could outlive civilization, and end up the tallest, fattest tree in the new coastal wilderness.

It is a treat to get a feel for the mighty California sequoia forests right here on the south island. If you can't make the 15 hour drive to the Sierra Nevada, this is the next best thing.

Do you know of a Victoria area sequoia that you don't see on the map? Please leave a comment below, like Bernard did, and describe the location of any notable sequoia that you know of. I would like to continue including new trees in this mapping project, and your participation can go a long way to filling in much needed information.

Thank you. Now go enjoy the trees, even if it is on Street View on the map above.

Largest Tree In Victoria, BC Is A Giant Sequoia

 Giant sequoia at Moss and Richardson St.,Victoria, BC. Is this Victoria's largest tree?

Image credit: Myles Green

Southern Vancouver Island enjoys mild coastal weather in a sub-Mediterranean climate. This encourages the growth of some very large Giant sequoias, relatively speaking.

With all the largest native big trees removed long ago, a Giant sequoia import is the largest tree in the Victoria area. Not bad for a species more used to growing farther south in California, where the really big ones live.

One of the big California sequoias. This massive specimen, the President Tree, is the second-most-massive tree
known on Earth. Here it is being measured by Steve Sillett and his team. 
(Image credit: Michael Nichols/National Geographic)

The President is one of the oldest (3,200 years) giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park, California. It's the second-largest tree on Earth, according to Steve Sillett of Humboldt State University. He should know - he climbed it recently and measured it himself.


You can read more about this and other impressive sequoia trees in their native range at National Geographic. The article I linked to has great photos, and mentions Sillett's research finding that some species of trees, including Giant sequoias, grow more rapidly as they age. Trees thousands of years old are not only viable, but are adding new wood faster than ever.


How The President Measures Up

Base of the President Tree

Height above base                                      75.0 m 245.0 ft
Circumference at ground 28.4         93.0
Diameter 1.5 m above base                          7.1           23.1
Diameter 18 m (60') above base 5.2           16.9
Diameter 55 m (180') above base 3.55         11.6
Diameter of largest branch                          2.43         8.0
Height of first large branch above the base 37.1         122.0
Estimated bole volume (m³.ft³) 1,278.0    45,148.0
Age                                                            3,200 years (at least)


The Largest Tree In Victoria, BC 

"One would expect that the native trees such as Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, or Western Red Cedar would be the largest trees in Victoria, B.C. But no, these giants were logged out long ago. 

The largest trees in Victoria are gifts from the state of California where they have preserved some of the largest trees on earth for their citizens and the citizens of the world. 

Tracts of Sequoia and Coastal Redwoods were set aside in the last century and the century before by enlightened Californians whose population is almost as large as Canada's, but whose zest for preserving their natural heritage far exceeds our own.

The Sequoia pictured in the front yard of the home at Moss and Richardson [see photo at top of page] was a seedling given to the people of Victoria in 1858 by the state of California - for many years this was considered the largest tree in Victoria. 

A reputable arborist now considers the large Sequoia in James Bay's Irving Park as the largest tree in Victoria." 

- Myles Green

It looks like Victoria's transplants from the southern sequoia forest will retain the "largest tree in town" designation far into the future. Especially if they grow faster as they age. I will be checking out the James Bay sequoia soon for a future post.

The magnificent Giant sequoias around the Victoria region should be not only a sign of our ties to our southern neighbours, but also a call to action to do the right thing and preserve our remaining old growth natural heritage just as Californians protected theirs so many years ago.

The Big Tree Art of George Tirrell: Saving Mariposa Grove

The Grizzled Giant, Sketch from nature, by G. Tirrell.

Giant sequoia, native to California, are amazing trees that can be found on Vancouver Island in Victoria. All were brought here by pioneers from the south as seeds or small trees in the 1800s. It is no wonder that people took the seeds and saplings with them - they were so impressed with these unbelievably large conifers that they did not wish to leave them behind. The pioneers left a legacy in these heritage trees that rise above all others.

Artist George Tirrell left a lasting legacy in the 1800s when he became the first person to sketch Mariposa Grove in what would later become Yosemite National Park. This grove of massive Giant sequoia quickly gained legendary status, and pilgrimages to this natural cathedral became popular. "Go to the Mariposa Grove," Alfred Lambourne advised, "and linger there until the lessons of the place sink deep into your heart".

The Devil's Spear, G. Tirrell

The Mariposa Grove contains many mighty trees. When Europeans first laid eyes on these massive columns of wood they could hardly believe it. When witnesses described the trees to others they were accused of exagerating and/or lying. But the stories were true, and nothing like the Giant sequoias had been seen before.

The Twins, Mariposa Grove, G. Tirrel

Artists like George Tirrell, were inspired by these newly discovered, cloud-scraping monuments. No doubt his work was instrumental in this global treasure eventually being protected.

Artists volunteered their work for this 1989 fund raising book

Similar efforts by artists have helped to save many of BC's beautiful ancient trees just as noteworthy and wow-inspiring as the Giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove. The campaign to save the Carmanah Valley, for example, was stunningly moved along by many Canadian artists that visited Canada's tallest trees and creatively depicted what they saw and felt.

"Campfire conversations would often turn to the stark contrast between the haunting beauty of Carmanah's virgin forest and the slash-choked, burned and blackened clearcuts that lie just outside the watershed. The artists spoke of how the distant growl of heavy logging equipment, carried by the wind from the next valley, affected them...a constant reminder as they sketched and painted, of why they were there." From: Wilderness Committee

Their efforts, like those of artists like George Tirrell before them, helped us to see the amazing beauty and diversity we would be missing if we failed to act.

Smoke Tree

Drought-resistant Smoke tree in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California

While in San Diego during the last week of February I took a sunny day to do a beautiful drive to the desert. A 2 hour jaunt from San Diego east on Highway 78 takes one through the Cuyamaca mountains and Cleveland National Forest, and then down into California's largest park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The Anza-Borrego Desert is 600,000 acres of stark, hot, harsh beauty. It is quiet. Very, very quiet. Everything that lives here has adapted to the heat and lack of moisture.  Many plants in the desert are "drought deciduous" meaning that they drop their leaves in times of drought and go dormant. When it rains the plants become active and new leaves emerge. This cycle may repeat itself several times throughout the year.

Palm trees in Victoria's Beacon Hill Park

It is amazing that trees can even exist in this harsh environment where the average rainfall is less than 6 inches per year. Compare that to Tofino on Vancouver Island which receives over 135 inches of wet stuff per year. That is over 10 feet. But it is not rainy here all year.

The south of Vancouver Island, like southern California, has a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and moderate, wet winters. Many of the plants I saw in San Diego, and even the desert, were familiar to me after seeing them in Victoria region gardens.

Palm trees for example, may not be as large or as healthy as those further south, but Victoria does sport a number of them.

Plants that tolerate drought can do well in the Victoria area. The native Arbutus is an ideal tree to plant in low water exposures. Although I have never seen one in Victoria, the Smoke tree would probably do well in the garden here, too.

The Smoke tree, native to California, grows up to 11 meters tall, although it often grows as a shrub in the harsh environs of the desert. The tree has small dark green oval leaves that turn brilliant colours in the Fall. It sports showy clusters of tiny deep blue flowers in the summer.

Smoke tree, John Gerrard

From a distance the flowers, and the fine hairs that emerge from them, look like puffs of smoke and hence the name.

Not surprisingly, the Smoke tree is said to indicate the presence of underground water. It has a long tap root that plunges through the poor soils seeking water deep below the parched surface.

California Sequoia

Giant sequoias in California by Jon Sullivan

After seeing several beautiful Giant sequoias on a drive along Gorge Road in Victoria I wanted to see what they looked like in their natural habitat. Well, they look a lot bigger, that's for sure. The photo above was taken in the Sierra Nevada Range of California.

These are the largest tree species in the world (by volume), and although they are one of the fastest growing trees, it takes a while to reach the size of the ones shown above. Victoria's impressive trees were brought as saplings from California by settlers in the 1800's, and are all babies as far as sequoias go.

Still, they have done well. Some believe that one of the Giant sequoias in town may be the tallest tree in Victoria. Scientifically speaking, these trees could continue to grow for another 3000 years!