Chandelier Tree

The sign at the Chandelier Tree says 315 feet. A laser rangefinder says 276, about 84 metres, which is still taller than almost anything you will drive under in your life. The sign is generous in other ways too. It gives the trunk as 21 feet wide; a modern measure at chest height gives 16. You will also see the tree described as 2,400 years old, a figure we could not trace to any source, so we leave its age open. If you know where a real estimate comes from, tell us. What nobody disputes is the hole. The Underwood family bought this grove in 1921 and in the late 1930s cut a tunnel through the base, 6 feet wide and 6 feet 9 inches high, so that cars could pass through a living redwood. Cutting a tree this way damages it, and the tunnel is the reason the place exists: it has been a paid roadside stop on US-101 ever since. Larger vehicles may not fit. The name comes from higher up, where limbs 4 to 7 feet thick sprout from about 100 feet and hang like the arms of a chandelier. The park is privately owned and open daily except Christmas and Thanksgiving. One listing gives $15 a car, with a smaller fee for walking through, and longer hours in summer; ring ahead on 707-925-6363, as these details come from secondhand listings rather than the owners. A road blog found it standing and busy in July 2026.