Touching the Old Live Oak at Baylor Historical Park feels a lot like touching a giant dinosaur.
It just doesn't seem real.
This tree is one of the largest coastal live oaks in Texas.
It's near this little cabin which makes for some fun photos. Old Baylor Historical Park is free and open to the public. It's a great place for a picnic.
If allowed, coastal live oaks (Quercus virginiana) will sprawl all over the area; its limbs reaching back down to touch the earth. This limbs of this one were easily a 100 feet across.
It's a friendly tree but watch out for the other side...it contains an active bee hive!
Live oaks can live to be a thousand years old. This one would have met the earliest Texas pioneers of Washington County.
As a big tree hunter, I love to measure trees like this one and record them for the Texas Forest Service. Sadly, I left all my measuring devices at home.
I'll just have to come back and visit this old giant on another day.
To visit the remarkable tree, drive north from Brenham to the little town of Independence, Texas. Turn west and go about 1/2 mile on FM 390 until you get to Old Baylor Park. The most famous landmark are four columns of the original building (see above #4). The tree is on a slope and a short walk from the columns.
The park and this tree are a five minute drive from the Antique Rose Emporium, so it would be a great place to have a picnic after you see the roses.
THE OLD LIVE OAK AT BAYLOR PARK ~ WASHINGTON COUNTY, TEXAS
I have many favorite trees, but when you add in the serenity of the park, the beautiful wildflowers, the nice hills, and the fun wooden cabin next to this tree, the whole experience makes it
my favorite tree in Texas. Hope you get to see it soon while out there hunting for bluebonnets!
One closing remark....this is not the biggest live oak in Texas. We'll save that for another day.
That's it from the Big Tree Hunter....
David/:0)
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David, you have done a fantastic job capturing the beauty of these majestic artifacts located in south/central Texas. The Virginia live oak as I understand is one of the most remarkable with its sprawling limbs and magnificent trunk. My family is fortunate and blessed to have a small "forest" of these on our land not far from Brenham, in the small town of Snook. Sadly, I must report that the State of Texas Department of Transportation is in the process of killing 5 of the younger trees, estimated to by our arborist to be 200 - 300 years old. The giant of the forest, over 500 years old, with a canopy of over 100' they say they will "try" to protect. My sister and I have worked to try and save all of the forest; but it appears our efforts have been met with a brick wall... If you would like to come visit and photograph these spectacular and breathtaking trees, come out soon. Or visit our FB page to view the area at
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-The-500-Year-Old-Live-Oak-Forest-Snook-TX-USA/579974825411846