They are just trees, right?  Yea, but pretty amazing.  CongareeNational Park protects wonderful old growth, bottomland, hardwood forest that includes national Champion Loblolly pine, Water Hickory, and Swamp Tupelo trees.  I can’t help but stop and gaze to the sky when I get close to them.   There are many bald cypress too with their weird “knees” and flared trunks.

The damp rich soil provides a home for some really great jumping salamanders, a weird looking worm snake, deer, a bunch of different woodpeckers, and many fat happy grey squirrels.  They claim coyote and bobcat too but we didn’t see those guys.

Did you know?

The formula for identifying a champion tree is really pretty scientific.  The National Parks and State Parks apparently take this all pretty seriously and have agreed this is it.

Circumference in feet (at 4.5 feet above the ground)

+ Height (in feet)

+1/4 of the crown diameter in feet

= points and rating