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Today was probably my favorite activity out of everything we did in San Fran (although the walking tour of Chinatown is a close second thanks to our informative yet very funny guide Linda).

Since we didn’t get to go to Yosemite on this trip as planned (biggest bummer of my life), this was the only outdoorsy thing we did and it was the highlight of the trip for me … so I (kindabutnotreally) apologize for how many pictures of trees you’re about to scroll through.

If you’re in the market to see giant trees, there are a few different options in Cali. Although they’re usually just called “redwoods,” there are two different species – the coast redwood and the giant sequoias.

So what’s the difference?

Giant sequoias only grow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Cali’s eastern border. They’re the largest living things on Earth, reaching 280 feet tall and 23 feet across (although the largest of them are closer to 300 ft tall and 30 ft across!). The oldest giant sequoias are around 3,000 years old. You can find these massive trees in three groves in Yosemite – Mariposa Grove, Merced Grove and Tuolumne Grove. You can also head to Sequoia National Park, the home of the largest living organism on the planet by volume: the (est.) 2,000-year-old General Sherman. We did not get to see giant sequoias on this trip.

We did get to see coast redwoods. Although they don’t usually get as wide as the giant sequoias, coast redwoods are the tallest trees on the planet. The tallest one, located in Redwood National Forest, is 380 ft tall — that’s as tall as a 37-story building! Like sequoias, these trees also live thousands of years. Try to imagine that. Thousands of years. What’s even more mind-blowing is that coast redwoods as a species have been on the planet for more than 240 million years (like, they were around when dinosaurs existed). Along with Muir Woods and Redwood National Forest, you can find these trees in Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Big Basin Redwoods State Park.