What is the oldest tree in Pemberton?
Pemberton's only mapped tree, and its oldest, is the Gloucester Tree, a Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) in Gloucester National Park about 3km from town. Fitted in 1947 with a spiral of steel pegs to serve as a fire lookout, it was once the second tallest such tree in the world, and its climb reopened to the public on 1 July 2026 after a three-year safety closure, now stopping at a lower platform.
The tree takes its name from Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who worked an auger into the trunk himself during a visit in the late 1940s. Forester George Reynolds drove the spiral of pegs up the trunk in 1947, one of eight fire-lookout trees raised across the south west between 1937 and 1952, and Jack Watson, a forester and Gallipoli veteran, made the first test climb, taking six hours. At the climbing zone the trunk measured 7.3 metres round on that first ascent. The tree stood 61 metres tall until a trim removed seven metres of rotting crown; the climb closed in November 2023 on safety grounds and reopened in July 2026 at a new platform 37 metres up rather than the old 53. There is no harness and the risk is the climber's own. Its age is given only as a floor, at least 250 years, with no ceiling and no ring count on record. A DPaW day-use entry fee applies for vehicle access to Gloucester National Park; there is no public transport, and Pemberton itself is a short, rural drive away.
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