Ancient oak at Letchworth State Park

18 years ago

Hi there!

I was digging through some old vacation photos, and I found this picture that I took of an ancient oak tree that stands near the edge of the river gorge in Letchworth State Park in upstate New York (this was on the way to Niagara Falls).

Anyway, since we all like trees here, I figured you'd enjoy a look at a downright HUGE oak tree - what a beauty! I don't know what species it is, but the leaves look like something from the red oak group (not white oak) from the full-size photo, though that may not be obvious from this really tiny, internet-friendly version of the photo. Sadly, this is the only photo I have of it, and my digital camera was pretty lousy back then. This was taken in the summer of 2003, so I'd bet this monster of an oak is still there.

Enjoy!

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Comments (14)

Thuja
18 years ago
Beautiful!
Loretta NJ Z6
18 years ago
I think I am going to have to visit this place.
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treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
18 years ago
radagast,
If you could remember exactly how to get to the tree, I'd like to visit it. I live in western NY and could possibly provide current pics of the old guy.
radagast
Original Author
18 years ago
Hmmm... How to get there? Well, I'll give you what I remember. We (my brother and I) entered the park from I what must have been the northern side and as we drove along (without crossing the river), we ran into a tourist-stopping point that sold lots of postcards, nick-nacks, and other neat stuff. They also sold ice cream in various forms, which was good since it was summer at the time. Outside the tourist building, there was a big sign detailing the dam that lies in the Genessee River Valley. This was all right next to a place where one can look over the edge into the canyon below.

After that, we continued driving deeper into the park along the same main road, stopping at various places, but always heading deeper in. This oak was located at one of those places where we stopped and before we got to the waterfalls, or at least before we got to the last waterfalls since that is when we turned around to leave from the direction we came to head on to Niagara Falls.

Hmmm.. what else... If you look in the right of the photo, you can see a rather distinctive, sharp bend in the canyon that I think would be a good way to distinguish where the oak stands since that was a rather unusual bend in the canyon. Also, if you look in the photo, there is a stone retaining wall at this particularly stopping point, so it must have been a relatively formal place to look around.

I wish I had a GPS reading on that tree's location so I could have given you more info, but I hope that information sorta helps. Good luck finding it - I guess it is a real treasure hunt!
treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
18 years ago
Thanks for the info. I've printed it up and have it saved for a weekend trip come sunshine and better weather. I might get around to it come early March, but I don't know, probably not until mid-May to June. I'll post pictures when/if I find it. Still, what a tree!
radagast
Original Author
17 years ago
Did anyone from upstate New York get a chance to visit this park? I hope this tree is still there, and I suspect that there are other big trees like it in those woods based upon what I recall of the place...
greenlarry
17 years ago
that looks a fine old oak,wonder how old it is?
radagast
Original Author
17 years ago
Good question!

I've learned that a lot of trees are not as old as you might expect based upon their size, but ones growing in the wild are older per given size than ones growing in more controlled environments (farmlands, suburbs, etc.) I'd guess around 100 years to maybe 150, based upon similar huge oaks in Washington DC that had a max age of 100 years, but are growing in a warmer environment (longer growing season) and in a more controlled environment (the DC Mall).
greenlarry
17 years ago
Must be fairly old as its an oak and theyre very slow growers.
blueseatx
16 years ago
Gorgeous tree! I wonder how old it is? I bet God was climbing it when he was a kid.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
larry .... its an old wives tale.. that oaks are slow growers .... they are growing .. in youth.. 3 to 5 feet per year after full establishment in my yard ... i am sure older trees slow down to some extent.. but its hard to see how much they grow.. when they are 100 feet tall ... ken
greenlarry
16 years ago
I think your oaks must be much quicker growers than ours Ken. English Oak and Turkey Oak crawl along in their own time. I have one in the garden grown from an acorn and its hardly moved. This spring it put out a spurt of growth and I thought it was going to rocket but come summer it had stopped and went back to creep mode. Its one reason they're hardly used as bonsai and never recommended as such from seed,you'd be waiting years before it got to trainable age! Maybe its our climate difference that inhibits their growth,I don't know but all the oaks I've met have been snails. There's a saying about oaks,300 years growing,300 years dying.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Tiny trees on bedrock outcroppings can be ancient, giant ones in moist canyons young.
akashia26
11 years ago
Ok I am seriously going to have to take and post a pic of the live oak in my back yard. It's about 6' to 8' in diameter. I have a 5' 3" spread of my arms and don't even come a 3rd of the way around it.

Ancient oak at Letchworth State Park

Comments (14)

Thuja

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Ancient oak at Letchworth State Park

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