Doerner Fir Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Doerner Fir Trailhead
- End point: Doerner Fir
- Hike Type: In and out
- Distance: 1.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 155 feet
- High Point: 1620 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year, depending on snow and road conditions
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Hike Description
For a couple of decades, the Doerner Fir, currently measured at 327 feet and nestled in a pocket of massive old growth trees above the East Fork Brummit Creek in eastern Coos County, held the distinction of being the world’s tallest known tree that wasn’t a coast redwood. That distinction ended when, in 2008, a mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) in the Arve Valley in Tasmania was measured at 329.7 feet. And in 2019, a yellow meranti (Shorea faguetiana), a tropical hardwood measuring 331 feet in height, was discovered in the Danum Valley in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. The Doerner Fir is still the world’s tallest measured Douglas-fir and the tallest non-redwood in the Americas.
If you’re going to visit this big tree, accessed by a short trail, be aware that it’s up miles of winding forest roads in rugged Bureau of Land Management territory north of Highway 42 between Winston and Coos Bay. However, all the road surfaces are paved except for the last 4 ½ miles. While the trail can be accessible at any time of year, the roads could be blocked, especially in winter, by snow, downed trees, and slides. There is almost always active logging off these roads.
A large sign designates the Doerner Fir Trail 15 yards down the road and on the opposite side from the parking pullout. The trail descends into a Douglas-fir/hemlock forest with an understory of rhododendron, salal, evergreen huckleberry, and Oregon grape. Steps lead down to a small creek, which you’ll cross under a large rotting nurse log. From the creek, the trail leads up and then makes a traverse across a slope hosting several massive old-growth Douglas-firs. Then four switchbacks down take you past more large trees above a broad bowl. You’ll find yourself above another tributary of the East Fork Brummit Creek, where you’ll get your first sighting of the Doerner Fir across the ravine.
From this vantage point, you can see that the top thirty feet or so of the fir is dead. Although the tree could continue to grow in girth for decades, it may not get much taller, and when the dead part snaps off, the record will go to another Douglas-fir. The trail crosses a footbridge and reaches the Doerner Fir itself. A split-rail fence somewhat protects this monster, but you can still touch its thick bark. The plaque that was here is long gone. Looking up at the canopy, a lot of the vegetation you see belongs to the tall thin cedar, perhaps 200 feet in height, that is growing right next to it.
The Doerner Fir, originally known as the Brummit Fir after the nearby creek, was renamed for Ray Doerner, a Douglas County commissioner and BLM employee. The tree was first measured in 1989. Other Douglas-firs were taller than this one, and there are many still standing that are wider in diameter (the Doerner Fir is 11 ½ feet across) and more massive in volume. A fir logged in Washington state in 1897 was said to be 465 feet tall, 80 feet taller than the tallest measured redwood! A more reliable measurement exists of the Mineral Tree, 393 feet in height and thus taller than Hyperion, the current champion redwood. A section of the Mineral Tree, which fell in a windstorm, can be seen at the Wind River Arboretum in Washington. Some discussion revolves around the premise that Douglas-firs were actually the tallest trees that ever lived.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Doerner Fir Trail (Bureau of Land Management)
- Bureau of Land Management: Coos Bay District
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Vault toilet, picnic table
- Access roads not necessarily maintained in winter; roads might be blocked by snow, fallen trees and slides
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Doerner Fir Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Doerner Fir Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- 75 Hikes in Oregon’s Coast Range and Siskiyous by Rhonda & George Ostertag
- Out Our Back Door: Driving Tours and Day-Hikes in Oregon’s Coos Region by Tom Baake
- Oregon Coast Camping & Hiking by Tom Stienstra & Sean Patrick Hill
More Links
- The Doerner Fir Trail (Bureau of Land Management)
- The Doerner Fir – World’s Tallest Douglas Fir! (Bureau of Land Management)
- Doerner Fir .. Brummit Fir (Coast Redwood Adventures)
- Doerner Fir (Wondermondo)
- “Doerner Fir tucked deep in Coos County forest is world’s tallest non-redwood tree” (Oregon Live)
- Finding Oregon’s Tallest Trees Gets Help From Technology (OPB)
- Doerner Fir (Wikipedia)
- List of tallest trees (Wikipedia)
- Oregon Champion Tree Registry (Ascending the Giants)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)