The world's most famous "5,000-year-old tree" is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine named Methuselah, located in the White Mountains of California, USA. Specifically, it grows in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. As of 2026, Methuselah is approximately 4,858 years old, though another unnamed bristlecone pine in the same area was recently cross-dated to be over 5,060 years old. These trees survive in incredibly harsh, dry, and windy conditions, which causes them to grow very slowly; their wood is so dense that it is nearly impervious to insects and rot. To protect Methuselah from vandalism, the U.S. Forest Service keeps its exact location a secret, though visitors can hike the Methuselah Grove Trail to see many other ancient trees that look nearly identical. These living "chronicles" are vital to scientists for "dendrochronology," as their rings provide a year-by-year record of the earth's climate stretching back to before the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.