The Trout Lake Big Tree in 2016 (bobcat)

The sign (now removed) at the Trout Lake Big Tree, Gifford Pinchot National Forest (bobcat)

• Hikes including this location:
  • Buck Creek-Wicky Shelter Loop Hike   (TH | <—   —> | LOG)

• Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
• Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
• Latitude, Longitude: 46.05845, -121.53077
• Elevation: 2780 feet

Description

This large ponderosa pine, which may have been 400 years old, is surrounded by a split-rail fence. There used to be a sign here announcing its dimensions: 202 feet high, 84 inches in diameter, 22,000 board feet of timber. The core of the tree is rotten, so no samples have been taken to determine its exact age. It is an impressive giant, but also a dead one. In 2015, the tree, like so many others in this forest, expired from an infestation of mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and now stands as a mournful skeleton.

More Links

• Interpretive Site: Big Tree (USFS)
• “Big ponderosa pine near Mt. Adams lives up to its name: Big Tree” (Oregon Live)
• "One of the oldest, biggest pines in the Pacific Northwest is dead" (The Columbian)
• "Well-known 'Big Tree' ponderosa in Columbia gorge dies" (Oregon Live)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)