Shaped and twisted by harsh weather and climate climate change, Great Basin Bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) are centuries-old testaments to the vagaries of time. If these trees could speak, the stories they could tell.

A Great Basin Bristlecone pine along the trail to the Wheeler Peak Grove, Great Basin National Park / Rebecca Latson

These trees grow in isolated groves at high elevations just below the tree line. Living conditions are harsh, winds are high, and the growing season is very short. Yet, these ancients continue to thrive, even though they grow very slowly, sometimes not even showing a ring of growth for a year. This slow growth makes the wood dense and resistant to insects, fungi, rot, and erosion.

Great Basin Bristlecone pines are a rare species found only in California, Nevada, and Utah. Sometimes, their twisted nature is confused with the limber pine, but their “bottlebrush” needle configuration helps identify and separate them from the limber pine’s needle clusters which grow near the end of branches.

The "bottlebrush" configuration of needles on a Great Basin Bristlecone pine, Great Basin National Park / Rebecca Latson

The cluster of needles at the tips of branches on a limber pine tree, Great Basin National Park / Rebecca Latson

Bristlecone pines can live for thousands of years. The park features the remains of the famous Prometheus tree, a Great Basin Bristlecone pine once recorded as the oldest tree in the world, estimated between 4700-5000 years-old.

There are three groves of bristlecone pines at Great Basin. The Wheeler Peak Grove is the most well-known and easiest to access (see Hiking In Great Basin). There is also the Mount Washington Grove, which is the largest grove of Great Basin Bristlecone pines in the park, and the Eagle Peak Grove.

Let’s return to the Prometheus tree. According to Great Basin staff:

Bristlecone pines are said to be the oldest known living trees. They often grow in a twisted fashion at high altitudes. These trees also have sectored architecture, which means that sections of the tree are supported by big roots. These roots feed only the sections of tree directly above them. As one root dies off due to exposure through soil erosion, only the sector of tree above that root dies. It is common at high elevations to see bristlecone pines with only one or two living sectors, defined by a strip of bark.

In the summer of 1964, a geographer by the name of Donald R. Currey was doing research on ice age glaciology in the moraines of Wheeler Peak. He was granted permission from the United States Forest Service to take core samples from numerous bristlecone pines growing in a grove beneath Wheeler Peak to try and age the glacial features these ancient trees grow on. Currey was studying the variations in width of the rings of bristlecone pine trees, which were believed to be over 4,000 years old, to determine patterns of good and bad growing seasons in the past. Due to their old age, these trees act as climatic vaults, storing thousands of years of weather data within their rings. This method of research is valuable to the study of climate change.

Currey found a tree in this grove he believed to be well over 4,000 years old. This tree was known by local mountaineers as Prometheus. There are several accounts of how Prometheus met its end. Some say Currey’s increment borer, the tool used to take core samples, broke off in the tree. Others say he did not know how to core such a large tree, or that the borer was too short. Yet others say Currey felt he needed a full cross section to better examine the rings of the tree. We may never know the true story of what happened to Prometheus, but we do know one thing for certain; Currey had permission from the Forest Service to have the tree cut down. Counting the rings later revealed that Prometheus contained 4,862 growth rings. Due to the harsh conditions these trees grow in, it is likely that a growth ring did not form every year. Because of this, Prometheus was estimated at being 4,900 years old, the oldest known tree of its time. After the death of Prometheus, the oldest known living tree was a 4,847 year old bristlecone pine found in the White Mountains of California. It wasn’t until 2012 when another bristlecone from the same area proved to be 5,065 years old. There is a good chance there are older bristlecone pines that have not yet been dated.

According to ancient Greek myths, Prometheus was an immortal who brought fire (symbolic of knowledge) to humans. Prometheus the bristlecone pine also imparted much knowledge to humans. Information gained by studying this significant tree added to the knowledge of carbon dating (which is valuable to archeologists and paleontologists) and climate data. Bristlecone pines are now protected on federal lands.

The stump of Prometheus is all that remains of the ancient giant within the grove. If you would like to travel through history by counting the rings of Prometheus, you can do so at the Great Basin National Park visitor center.

You can read more details about the Great Basin Bristlecone pine by clicking here.

Please remember that everything in a national park is protected. Some bristlecone pine wood on the ground may be thousands of years old and important scientifically. Please leave all downed bristlecone pine wood in place.