INVASIVE SPECIES

Visitors Banned From Hiking to World’s Tallest Tree After Wrecking Habitat

Despite a lack of a path to the tree at Redwood National Park, determined visitors wanting to check it off their bucket list have caused environmental destruction.

Visitors to the world’s tallest tree at California’s Redwood National Park were already facing fines of as much as $5,000 or six months in jail if they damaged its base and surroundings—but even that threat was apparently not enough. The National Park Service has now closed off the area for good, warning those wanting to see the tree, named Hyperion, that they must ask themselves: “Will you be part of the park’s preservation? Or part of the problem?” Despite the fact there is no direct trail leading to Hyperion, the tree has been a popular attraction since its “discovery” in 2006. It requires cutting through dense vegetation and “bushwhacking” in order to get there. “Despite the difficult journey, increased popularity due to bloggers, travel writers, and websites of this off-trail tree has resulted in the devastation of the habitat surrounding Hyperion,” the National Park Service said. Visitors have led to the degradation of Hyperion’s base and the area around it no longer has ferns due to trampling.