Big Tree (Washington tree)

{{Short description|Former pine tree in Washington}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}File:Trout Lake Big Tree 02.JPG

The Big Tree (also known as the Trout Lake Big Tree) was a massive Ponderosa pine tree in an old-growth pine and fir forest in southern Washington state,{{cite web

| title=Big Tree Loop

| url=http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=SGW009-087

| accessdate=6 April 2013

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224123748/http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=SGW009-087

| archive-date=24 December 2013

| url-status=dead

}} at the southern base of Mount Adams. The area is managed by the Mount Adams Ranger District of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The tree was {{convert|202|ft|m}} tall{{cite news

| last=Richard

| first=Terry

| title=Big ponderosa pine near Mount Adams lives up to its name: Big Tree (video)

| url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2011/09/big_ponderosa_pine_near_mount.html

| accessdate=6 April 2013

| newspaper=The Oregonian

| date=September 30, 2011

}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUA3AQAAMAAJ&dq=Trout+Lake+Big+Tree&pg=SL7-PA9 |title=Gifford Pinchot National Forest (N.F.), Land and Resource(s) Management Plan (LRMP): Environmental Impact Statement |year=1990 |publisher=Gifford Pinchot National Forest |page=490 |accessdate=November 26, 2016}} with a diameter of {{convert|7|ft|cm}},{{cite web

| title=Big Tree Interpretive Site

| url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recreation/natureviewing/recarea/?recid=31718&actid=63

| accessdate=6 April 2013

}} and was one of the largest known Ponderosa pines in the world. After stress by attacks from mountain pine beetles its death in 2015 was confirmed the following year.{{cite news |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/one-of-the-oldest-biggest-pines-in-the-pacific-northwest-is-dead/ |newspaper=The Columbian, Seattle Times |title=One of the oldest, biggest pines in the Pacific Northwest is dead |date=November 25, 2016 |first1=Dameon |last1=Pesanti |quote=A mammoth conifer, the Big Tree contained about 22,000 board feet of lumber — enough wood to frame almost one and a half 2,400-square-foot homes. Although it was one of the oldest and tallest trees of its kind, and for decades the centerpiece of an interpretive site for travelers headed to Mount Adams, the Big Tree died with little fanfare last year. "It's probably well over 500 years, gauging by the size," he said. |accessdate=November 25, 2016}}