General Sherman Tree, Sequoia National Park, California
Correction appended: August 6, 2010
A trip here is sure to be more pleasant than General William Tecumseh Sherman's 1864 march through the South that devastated the Confederacy. James Wolverton, a naturalist who had served among Sherman's troops, named the tree after the Civil War general in 1879. It stands as the world's largest tree by volume, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, measuring 275 feet off the ground and coming in at over 52,000 cubic feet. That park, famed for its vast expanses of roadless wilderness, is operated by the National Park Service at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Accessed by the Generals Highway, located off U.S. Highways 180 and 198 in southeastern California, the duo of parks also provides a lesson in rank and humility. Even when you reach the apex, you can never stray too far from the boss — also found in the parks is the no-less-imposing General Grant Tree.
An earlier version of this item incorrectly stated the exact location of the park and did not clarify that it is the world's largest tree by volume.