Visitors To Iconic Hyperion Redwood Face Steep Fines, Possible Jail Time

CBS San Francisco

August 2, 2022

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 Monday.

The tree, a 380-foot 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.

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