Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)

Sequoiadendron

Sequoiadendron giganteum is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens and...

 trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundaries of the forest.

The Giant Sequoia National Monument

Giant Sequoia National Monument

The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the United States Forest Service as part of the Sequoia National Forest and includes 38 of the 39 Giant Sequoia groves that are located in the...

 is located in the national forest. Other notable features include glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

-carved landscapes and impressive granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 monolith

Monolith

A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...

s.
The Sequoia National Forest covers 1,787.87 square miles (4,630.55 km²), and ranges in elevation from 1000 feet (304.8 m) in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to over 12000 feet (3,657.6 m).