Calaveras Big Trees State Park contains some of the biggest trees in the world (and largest living things on the earth's surface). It took a long time to get that big-over 3,000 years in some instances. While the absolute biggest tree on the planet is approx. 230 miles south of Big Trees park at Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, you can't hug that giant. It is protected by a fence and you are asked not to touch.

But you still can try to wrap your arms around the mammoth Louis Agassiz tree in Calaveras County on the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Located in one of two groves- the South Grove, the huggable giant is 25 feet in diameter six feet above the ground, and when you try to wrap your arms around its size, you discover that it would take lots of people holding hands to surround the tree. It is one of 1,000 survivors in the state park. 35% of these giants were cut down and their wood used for building construction before someone realized that they are important to Earth's history and maybe should be preserved.

Calaveras County is a gem of a destination for this fabulous park, the giant Gold Nugget in Murphys, and the famous Jumping Frog Jubilee in May. Add it to your list of places to explore this year, and be sure to give a hug to one of the old giants. You'll be the richer for it.