Big Tree Wayside

Big Tree or "Big Tree Wayside" as it's better known, is one of the largest of the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park old-growth coast redwoods. Thought to be around 1,500 years old and over 350 feet high, Big Tree is situated next to the road down a short paved trail accessible to all. One can deduce the scale of this natural giant by observing the massive branch growing from the trunk on the tree's right side; the branch makes for a large conifer in it's own right.

Big Tree Wayside is accessed by taking the Newton B Drury Parkway, an offshoot loop form the main Highway 101 thoroughfare that runs through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. A mile south of Big Tree Wayside is the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Visitor Center and Elk Prairie Meadows, where a large herd of free-roaming Roosevelt elk are frequently seen.