Overview: California holds a unique position among the world’s elder and megaflora regions. With a host of conifer species surpassing 1,000 years, the state is in a league of its own for super trees. Within California’s borders stand the oldest, largest, and tallest trees in the world: the bristlecone pines, giant sequoias, and coast redwoods respectively. Scattered in isolated groves along the dry, cold, 11,000-foot elevation near the Nevada border, the Bristlecone pines have stood as an arboreal enigma for nearly 5,000 years. In the mid-elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountains, among winter-wet and summer-dry conifer forests, the giant sequoias grow as the largest trees in the world by volume. They’re not the tallest, or the widest in girth, but combined no other tree meets the grandeur of the sequoia. Farther west, along northern California’s dank, foggy coast, the redwoods achieve heights nearly (and historically passing) 400 feet tall, unmatched by any other tree globally.
On this eight-day program, we’ll meet these superlative trees (among many other remarkable plants) and explore how they have set records among the world’s 60,000 species of trees. We’ll spend roughly a day and a half among each species of our three main targets (with long drives in between). We’ll discuss the unique physiology and environmental conditions that cause these species to persist and rise to their respective records. We’ll hike, talk, gawk, and sit among the world’s greatest arboreal spectacles.
Michael Gaige (Instructor): Michael Gaige is an independent consulting ecologist and educator. His work meets at the intersection of nature and culture and has a strong emphasis on trees. Michael taught undergraduate field courses throughout the American west for 15 years from California’s deserts and mountains to Alaska's coastal rainforest and arctic. At Oak Spring he teaches Reading the Landscape and Ancient, Venerable, and Large Old Trees. Michael has explored large and old trees in Europe, South America, California, and ancient oaks closer to home.
Lara Gastinger (Journeying Artist): is an artist and botanical illustrator from Charlottesville, Virginia and was the chief illustrator of the Flora of Virginia, the key botanical reference for the Commonwealth. She has her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in plant ecology from Virginia Tech. She has been awarded two gold medals (2007, 2018) by the Royal Horticultural Society in London for her botanical art and her work is in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Her artwork appears in the latest Peterson’s Field Guide to Mushrooms and American Society of Botanical Artists Botanical Art Techniques Handbook. She teaches online and in person at the University of Virginia Landscape Architecture Department with a class that unites both plant identification and ways to artistically document plants. Lara will accompany the group to document the plants, trees, and habitats along the way.
Eligibility: We are delighted to share this program with our network which includes artists and writers as well science and conservation professionals. Above all, this expedition is designed to support a group of enthusiastic and intellectually curious tree lovers, interested in traveling as a cohort for 8-days. The expedition will involve some hikes of up to four miles. Part of what allowed these trees to persist is that they are located in remote and rugged settings. While we will be on trails to access trees, some walking occurs on uneven terrain, and in landscapes with inclines and ups and downs, as such we are seeking to invite a group of participants who are comfortable with this type of physical activity.
Format: This is a traveling course for a small group of dedicated explorers. The course will convene in Las Vegas, Nevada and end in Santa Rosa (or Sacramento, CA). Over the course of 8 days, we’ll alternate travel days and explore days with one to two days at each of the three tree locations. Accommodations chosen for their convenience in the itinerary, will be mixed style from a chain hotel, to a lodge in Yosemite National Park, to a pleasant inn in Mendicino County, California. As a necessary component of seeing all three superlative species in a short period of time, there are a few long drives. Participants should be prepared for a couple half-days of driving and one longer driving day, spread throughout the week.
Dates and Duration: Friday, August 21st - Friday, August 28th, 2026. The course will begin at 12:30pm at a hotel in Las Vegas (exact location to be shared later) on Friday, August 21st. Participants will be dropped off at Sacramento or Santa Rosa Airports, or at a BART station on the last day of the program, Friday, August 28th.
Course Fee: $4,000 for individuals and $3,300 if attending the program with a partner with whom you plan to share accommodations. This fee includes hotel and accommodation fees, and all meals except for 2 breakfasts and 1 lunch. Meals begin with dinner on August 21st, and end with breakfast on August 28th (there will be snacks in the van at all times). We are pleased to offer a reduced fee of $2,000 to two participants who would like to attend but require financial assistance.
Please note that if applying to attend with a partner, each attendee should complete this form.
Invitation Process: Information here will be reviewed by Michael Gaige and OSGF staff and acceptances will likely be sent by the end of August.
The Oak Spring Garden Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. Decisions are made on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other non-merit factor.