Finding the Giants: 17 Places That Will Amaze You!

To finish our three-part series on trees of the U.S. West (also see 25 of the West's Most Iconic Trees and Cataloging Our Forests' Giants), we have compiled several adventures where you can go out and find the largest and most massive trees the U.S. West has to offer. Many of these relics of time were seedlings when the Roman Empire was still in power and western civilization knew nothing of the New World.

Today, after 150 years of logging, only an estimated 5% of old-growth coastal redwoods remain. For Douglas fir, western red cedar, western hemlock, and Sitka spruce, all chief products of the timber industry, remaining old-growth populations in the United States might be much smaller.

At Outdoor Project, we love big trees! They represent incredible endurance and are living examples of what nature can accomplish. Yet, unlike mountains, they remind us of how fragile our ecosystems are and how critical it is for us to to protect and be stewards of the landscape.

So, go explore and enjoy marveling at these giants!