Red Creek Fir
roughly 1,000 yearsCoast Douglas-fir
The Red Creek Fir holds more wood than any other Douglas-fir ever measured: 349 cubic metres of trunk, a girth of 13.3 metres and a diameter of 4.23 metres taken just above the base. Even that undersells it. The scarred, forked crown shows it has lost its top to storms at least twice, which means the tree standing here today may once have been taller than the 74 metres it reaches now. It seeded around the year 1000, by the same rough estimate applied to its rival Big Lonely Doug an hour's drive away, though nobody has cored it to count the rings. It sits inside a Forest Service Recreation Site and an Old-Growth Management Area rather than under any protection written specifically for it, which has been enough so far. Getting there takes commitment: about 45 minutes from Port Renfrew on rough, largely unmaintained logging roads that a high-clearance vehicle should handle and a low one probably should not, past several large old cedars, then an easy kilometre on foot. Road conditions shift year to year with storm damage and logging nearby, so check before you go.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. No public transit. High-clearance vehicle required, driving from Port Renfrew via industrial logging roads (about 45 minutes), followed by a short signed hiking trail.
- Species
- Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii)
- Age estimate
- roughly 1,000 years
- Location
- Red Creek Fir Forest Service Recreation Site, San Juan River valley, about 15 km / 45 minutes' drive east of Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island, BC (San Juan River valley (often loosely called 'the Walbran' by visitors, but it sits in the San Juan valley, not the Walbran Valley proper))
- Access
- Free, Crown land within a designated Forest Service Recreation Site and Old-Growth Management Area, no gate or permission needed. Reached via rough, largely unmaintained industrial logging roads (high-clearance vehicle essential, 4WD preferable, roughly a 45-minute drive from Port Renfrew), then an easy, well-used trail of about 1 km return (10-15 minutes) passing several large old cedars. Road conditions vary year to year with storm damage and active logging in the area; state plainly rather than assuming the road is always open.
- Getting there
- No public transit. High-clearance vehicle required, driving from Port Renfrew via industrial logging roads (about 45 minutes), followed by a short signed hiking trail.
Trees nearby
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