The Sacred Grove is visited by tens of thousands of visitors each year. The vast majority of visitors are members of the church. The grove obviously changes over time but there are five trees within the boundaries that are called 'Witness Trees' because they were alive when Joseph Smith was a boy and could have possibly witnessed the visitation of Heavenly Father and Jesus. Three of those trees are now dead. The oldest tree in the grove was estimated to be 350 years old when it died. The exact location where Joseph Smith went to pray and had the vision is not known. He said in his history that he 'retired to the woods to make an attempt.' The Sacred Grove has been maintained as hallowed ground since it is near the boyhood home of Joseph Smith. When in the grove, we assume we are near the spot where the Father and Son appeared.
There are pathways throughout the grove. We were assigned to patrol one of three sections of the grove for one or two hours per shift. There are benches throughout the grove for resting, contemplation etc. We sat occasionally but got our exercise walking around the loops. Without a map, it could be easy to get lost. The majority of visitors were fairly reverent and respectful of the rules...then there are those who smuggled in a dog, others who left the pathways, and a family that took sticks presumably for walking sticks or carving. For the most part, the time spent in the grove was very peaceful and shady. We were in the grove during a thunder and lightning storm in which the trees didn't protect us from the torrential rains. We got soaked and muddy!
This shows some of the remains of a fence constructed by the Smith family that went along their property line.
Click to enlarge:
Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning!
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