A tunnel tree is a large tree in whose trunk a tunnel has been drilled. This practice took place mainly at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in the west of the United States.[citation needed]
The tunnel allowed tourists to walk or drive through the tree with a car. The tunnels were bored to boost tourism.[1]
The tunnelling seriously damaged the health of the trees. As a result, some trees have fallen. Due to the harmful effects of hollowing out trees, the practice of creating tunnel trees has been abandoned.[2]
Name | Place | Tree species | Note | Picture |
---|---|---|---|---|
Wawona Tree | Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park | Sequoiadendron giganteum | Fell 1969 | |
Pioneer Cabin Tree | Calaveras, Calaveras Big Trees State Park | Sequoiadendron giganteum | Fell 2017 | |
Tunnel Log | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | Sequoiadendron giganteum | Fell 1937, blocking a road, a tunnel cut through the log in 1938 | |
Chandelier Tree | Leggett | Sequoia sempervirens | ||
Shrine Drive-Thru Tree | Myers Flat | Sequoia sempervirens | ||
Klamath Tour-Thru Tree | Klamath | Sequoia sempervirens | ||
California Tunnel Tree | Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park | Sequoiadendron giganteum | ||
Dead Giant Tunnel Tree | Tuolumne, Yosemite National Park | Sequoiadendron giganteum |