Yosemite National Park's famed sequoia trees survived their latest brush with wildfire.

The Washburn Fire, which shut down Mariposa Grove and other areas of the park, was 50% contained Monday after burning through more than 7 square miles. Park officials said the grove, home to about 500 giant sequoias, wasn't damaged but remained closed.

The trees in Mariposa Grove are among the oldest and largest in the world. President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation in 1864 that designated the grove and Yosemite Valley as the first-ever lands granted federal protection for public use and recreation. The grove was added to Yosemite National Park in 1906. More than 208 million people have visited the park since.

Some other notable facts:

-The Wawona Tunnel Tree, often seen in historic black and white photos of cars driving through it, fell during a harsh winter in early 1969. The tunnel was cut in 1881. The tree was 234 feet high, or roughly the equivalent of a 25-story building, and estimated to be 2,100 years old when it came down. Heavy snow, wet soil and weakening caused by the tunnel were all cited in its demise.

-There are three sequoia groves in Yosemite, but Mariposa is the most easily accessible and therefore the most visited. The other two groves are named Tuolumne and Merced.

-A sequoia named Grizzly Giant living in Mariposa Grove is the 25th largest tree in the world, standing about 209 feet tall and measuring 92.5 feet in circumference at its base. It's estimated to be 3,000 years old.

-A single sequoia limb can be more than 6 feet in diameter, larger than many full-grown tree species.

-Fire isn't always bad for sequoias. The trees rely on low-intensity surface fires to dry out their cones so they'll crack open and spread seeds. Fire also clears out lower brush and vegetation, allowing the seeds a sunny place to grow. Tree ring studies show that fires regularly burned in sequoia groves for 2,000 years. Starting in the late 1800s, land use practices and other influences made fires less frequent. The National Park Service started carrying out prescribed burns in sequoia groves in the 1970s. The danger now is that wildfires are becoming more frequent and more intense. Drought is also making sequoias more susceptible. Hundreds have died in wildfires since 2015.

-Only two other species of trees - rare bristlecone pines that grow in California, Nevada and Utah, and alerce trees in Chile and Argentina - are known to live longer than sequoias.

-The only place in the world where giant sequoias grow naturally is in a 60-mile stretch along the western slopes of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range at an elevation of between 4,000 and 8,000 feet. With mild winters and a history of less severe wildfires, tens of thousands of sequoias live in about 75 groves covering 55 square miles in the region. The Sierra Nevada's winter snowpack is critical to supplying water to their roots.

-Mariposa Grove was closed for more than three years starting in April 2015. During that time, a large scale restoration project was carried out to improve sequoia habitat by removing roads and parking lots and restoring the natural flow of water.

-Click through our slideshow above for a mini tour of the grove and its amazing giant trees.

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