The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is a protected area high in the White Mountains in Inyo County in eastern California. The Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) trees grow between 9,800 and 11,000 feet (3,000â€"3,400 m) above sea level, in xeric alpine conditions, protected within the Inyo National Forest. Foxtail Pine (Pinus balfouriana) also grow in the forest.
Methuselah
The Methuselah Grove in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is the location of the "Methuselah", a Great Basin bristlecone pine that is 4,849 years old. For many years, it was the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism, until superseded by the discovery in 2013 of another bristlecone pine in the same area with an age of 5,067 years (germination in 3051 BC). "Methuselah" is not marked in the forest, to ensure added protection from vandals.
Geography
The forest is east of the Owens Valley, high on the eastern face of the White Mountains in the upper Fish Lake-Soda Spring Watershed, above the northernmost reach of the Mojave Desert into Great Basin ecotone. The forest's mountain habitat is in the Central Basin and Range ecoregion (EPA) and Taiga and Boreal forest ecoregion (WWF). The Patriarch Grove is the source of Cottonwood Creek, a designated Wild and Scenic River.
Methuselah Grove trail
The Methuselah Grove trail starts from the visitor center at 9,846 feet and makes a 4.5-mile loop that includes the side valley of the Methuselah Grove where the oldest tree lives, a high section looking out eastward over Nevada's basin-and-range region, and side trails to old mining sites. Numbered natural-history markers are explained by a booklet.
Visiting
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is generally open from mid-May through the end of November, weather permitting.
- Schulman Grove and Schulman Grove Visitor Center â€" daily interpretive talks and natural history lectures mid-June through Labor Day, and hiking trails.
- Patriarch Grove â€" home of the world's largest bristlecone pine, the Patriarch Tree, and a self-guided nature trail.
Fire
On September 4, 2008, an arsonist set fire to the Schulman Grove Visitor Center and several bristlecone pines. The building and all the exhibits within were destroyed. Activities to rebuild the center began the next day and are now complete.
References
External links
- www.fs.usda.gov â€" Inyo National Forest official Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest site
- www.fs.usda.gov â€" Inyo National Forest: The Natural History of the Bristlecone Pines
