Visiting the Dillonwood Grove and Dillon Mill Site in Sequoia National Park

by Laurie Schwaller

In 2001, the 1540-acre Dillonwood Giant Sequoia Grove and its historic Dillon Mill remains became part of Sequoia National Park, reuniting Dillonwood with its other half, the Garfield Grove, which had been protected in the park since its establishment in 1890. Straddling the north and south flanks of Dennison Ridge respectively, Garfield and Dillonwood comprise one of the five largest of all the Big Tree groves. But these two halves have very different histories: privately vs. publicly owned, logged vs. unlogged, almost unscathed vs. recently badly burned (NPS is planting restoration seedlings in the Dillonwood grove in 2025) — providing tremendous research opportunities and very different visitor experiences, with hope that Dillonwood may once again thrive anew.

November, 2025

NOTE: The Project Team will be conducting research for a full article as volunteer time allows. Contact us if you’d like to help research, write about, and/or illustrate this Treasure!

Maps & Directions:

NOTE: Dillonwood is hard to get to, and two extreme wildfires have destroyed almost all the remains of the mill structures and many of the trees, so you may want to delay visiting until some restoration results can be seen. You’ll need a high-clearance, 4-wheel-drive vehicle to reach the National Park’s closed gate, beyond which you’ll have to walk a few miles to get into the Dillonwood grove. [NEED TO TALK TO PARK PEOPLE RE THIS PART.]

The shortest driving route to Dillonwood is via Yokohl Drive/M-296 to its junction with Balch Park Drive, but it’s probably faster to go the longer route through Springville:

From Visalia, go east on Hwy 198 to take Hwy 65 south near Exeter down to Porterville. There, take Hwy 190 east to Springville. Go through Springville to the really big white barn on your left, where you will go left (north) onto Balch Park Dr./Rd. J37. At the junction with Yokohl Drive, stay right on Balch Park Dr. until you go straight onto Forest Road 19S09 (instead of taking Balch Park Dr. on a sharp right toward Mountain Home/Balch Park). This is where you’ll need high-clearance four-wheel-drive to get to the Park’s locked gate, beyond which you’ll have to hike a few miles to get into what’s left of the Dillonwood Grove and the remaining fragments of Dillon’s mill. NEED TO ASK SNP RE THIS.

Nearby Treasures: Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, Balch Park, SCICON, McCarthy Blue Oak Ranch Preserve, River Ridge Ranch and Institute, Springville Historical Museum, Success Lake, Bartlett Park.

Site Details & Activities:

Environment: Mountains, 5400′-8000′, resilient giant sequoia forest (repeatedly logged for a century, added to Sequoia National Park in 2001), source of the North Fork of the Tule River, creeks, meadows, cultural resources – Native American activity sites, site of the large Dillon’s sawmill and extensive logging operation, followed by the Dillon Wood Corporation, extensive regrowth of young sequoias after logging ceased followed by devastating wildfires in 2020 and 2021

Activities: birding, botanizing, hiking (mostly cross-country, virtually no trails), history, photography, wildflower and wildlife viewing (NOTE: no facilities at Dillonwood; water in creeks, etc. must be purified before drinking]

Open: daily, weather permitting, except in emergency conditions (note that you cannot drive all the way to Dillonwood; the Park gate is locked, so you must hike the last few miles up to the grove area)

Site Steward: National Park Service, Sequoia National Park, 559-565-3341

Opportunities for Involvement: donate , volunteer, Sequoia Parks Conservancy

Links: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (NPS Site); Visit Sequoia.com; Plan Your Visit, Permits, Current Conditions

Books: 1) Challenge of the Big Trees -The Updated History of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, by William C. Tweed and Lary M. Dilsaver (University of Virginia Press, 2017)

2) A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California, by Dwight Willard (Yosemite Association, 2000)

3) King Sequoia: The Tree That Inspired a Nation, Created Our National Park System, and Changed the Way We Think about Nature, by William C. Tweed (Heyday, 2016)

54 The Men of Mammoth Forest: A Hundred-year History of a Sequoia Forest and its People in Tulare County, California, by Floyd L. Otter, 1963 (printed by BookCrafter’s, Inc., 1963, 1964, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1995)