Seasons1 of 4
By volume of wood this is reckoned the largest tree in Lithuania, 43 cubic metres of oak, which is a rarer way to measure a tree than the one everybody quotes. On girth it is nowhere near the top: 6.2 metres at chest height by the Lithuanian Wikipedia's figure, 6.7 by the Prienai district's own, against roughly 10 metres for the Stelmužė Oak. What this one has is height and mass at once. It stands 33 metres and does not divide into its two main stems until 14 metres up. Oaks this thick are usually squat. This one went upward. It is about 400 years old. Lightning has hit it and left its mark, there is rot inside, and the surveys still describe it as vital. The state made it a protected natural heritage object in June 2005. The other measure of a tree worth travelling for is what people have built around it, and here they have built a good deal, with a parking area off the A16, a wooden walkway to the trunk, an information board, a bench, and carved sculptures by local craftsmen. The road sign reads Gojaus miškas, 1 km. Somebody decided this oak was worth stopping the car for, and built the stop before anyone asked for it.
From people who stood here
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Getting there
Ąžuolų g., Gojus forest, near Pakrovai, Stakliškės eldership, Prienai district, Lithuania, about 3.4km from Stakliškės off the A16 (Vilnius-Prienai-Marijampolė), signposted 'Gojaus miškas 1 km'
You can recognise it by its trunk rising a full 14m before dividing into two main stems, unusually tall and undivided for an old oak. It stands at the end of a wooden walkway in Gojus forest, with carved sculptures and a bench around it.
Free, public. Stands in Gojus forest, reached via a signposted turn off the A16 highway about 3.4km from Stakliškės. Built as a small visitor stop: a parking area, a wooden pathway, an information board, locally carved artisan sculptures and a bench are all in place around the tree. No gate or fee.
No public transport to the site; reached by car via the A16 (Vilnius-Prienai-Marijampolė), then a short signed turn into the forest. About 26km from the Degsnė Forest Larch (deg_001), too far to present as a day-trip pairing with Degsnė; treated as a standalone place.
In fruit
September to October: acorns drop, and a good mast year buries the ground in them
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.