Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

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16°c

Hiking the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

3,420 m (11,188 ft)
37°23′8.42″N 118°10′43.91″W
Inyo National Forest

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 (3,000–3,400 m) above sea level, in xeric alpine conditions, protected within the Inyo National Forest. Foxtail Pine (Pinus balfouriana) also grow in the forest. The Methuselah Grove in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is the location of the "Methuselah", a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine that is 4,848 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 For many years, it was the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism, until superseded by the discovery in 2013 of another bristlecone pine in the same area with an age of 5,066 years. "Methuselah" is not marked in the forest, to ensure added protection from vandals. The forest's mountain habitat is in the Central Basin and Boreal forest ecoregion.