A Walk Around a Big Beech
This monster has a circumference of about 8 feet, 6 inches.
It's one of the biggest American Beech trees that I've ever seen. It had the kind of stature that made we want to walk around and admire and photograph it from several angles.
As you can see, the smooth bark of the beech tree makes it particularly desirable to carve. The earliest carving dates I could see were from the late 1970s.
Holmdel Park has hundreds of beech trees and many of them have extensive carvings.
I'd love to know just how old this majestic tree is!
31 AUG 80 LINDA
I have no idea why someone left a few feet of chain at the base of this tree.
I saw this trinket laying on the ground at the base of the tree.
One of the service roads at the hilltop section of Holmdel Park.
All images @cognoscere and taken on 01/30/2017 in the Hilltop area woods at Holmdel Park (Sony RX100 V)
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Thanks!!!
It is winter where I live right now, but my family really likes it when we go to the beech. Nice photots!
Thanks @papa-pepper!
There was a slight joke there, about "beach" and "beech", but we sure liked the post!
Wow, that is one impressive beech tree. The base flutes are so cool. I really do love hardwood forests, they are so amazing in the fall/winter. I'd loan you my increment borer, but don't think it would get anywhere near the middle. Plus, looks like these get enough abuse over time. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, it's amazing the amount of carvings that you can find in these beech trees. It's been at least 60 or so years from what I've witnessed!
I really like the top photo! It shows how that tree is trying so hard to be really connected to the ground over a wide area, so it doesn't blow over in a storm. It really seems like an action photo to me, lol. Beech woods are so special! Have you been there in the spring? I would guess there are some great spring wildflowers in there, like Trout Lilies and Bloodroot, or even Ramps to eat. I hope you can post from this same tree throughout the year!
I'll have to definitely go back in the spring/summer. There's also the David C. Shaw Arboretum within the park that has all kinds of unusual tress and shrubs.
You do get around to some good places! Your posts show New Jersey in a lot different way than many folks talk about it. There's a lot more rural and wild area than I would have guessed!
I love big trees like this, such awe they earn. Unfortunately, also a lot of idiots carving into it, that I don't like to see. Too bad really.
Agree, as interesting as I find it to read all the old carvings, it does really ruin the natural beauty of these great trees!