Methuselah Tree (Sequoia) in Woodside, California

The giant sequoias of California are overwhelmingly big, making you feel like a leprechaun in a fairy tale. Most of these trees can be found just south of Death Valley, in parks that include the largest sequoia (General Sherman), and many other so-called first-growth trees. While you can certainly find other giant trees throughout the state, most of them are second-growth, which means that they are very tall but not very wide. One notable exception is a massive coast redwood that grows not far from Silicon Valley, called the Methuselah Tree.

This tree is one of the last remaining first-growth trees in the area, with an estimated age of more than 1,800 years. It stands a staggering 147 feet tall, which is only after half of it broke off during a storm in 1957. Before that, its height was closer to 225 feet. Its base has a diameter of 14 feet, easily dwarfing any person who stands next to it.

A bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of eastern California goes by the same nickname. The Methuselah Tree of the White Mountains is one of the oldest trees in the world—at an estimated 4,600-4,800 years old, it has a couple of millennia on the Methuselah of the Santa Cruz Mountains.