Big Tree Park

I love a historic tree. They have silently witnessed so many formative events and will still be standing long after we are gone. I found just such a tree, a majestic southern live oak tree from the 1500's in Big Tree Park in Orlando. Live Oaks can live for centuries while growing 60-80 feet tall and 60-120 feet wide. Big Tree is so beloved by Orlando that it had its own park created around it in the 1950's.

Big Tree sprang to life from an acorn in the 1500's. That was before the Spanish arrived in Florida in 1513 and the Pilgrim's reached Plymouth Rock in 1620. Big Tree grew as our nation did in the 1700's when the Declaration of Independence was written and George Washington became the first President of the United States. In 1819 the United States took control of Florida from Spain and Florida became a state in 1845. In 1875, Big Tree's home city of Orlando was incorporated. In the 1920's the Park Lake Highland neighborhood grew up around it. Through all of these years Big Tree has been pulling significant amounts of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Big Tree has continued to flourish surviving hurricanes, freezes, and city growth. In 1972 Big Tree was struck by lightening three times and experts hired by the city did critical work on the root structure. It stands here still today majestically with minimal upkeep through a combination of interaction with the soil, the surrounding environment, and luck. Earlier this year a group of arborists from Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit based in Michigan came and took clippings from the canopy of Big Tree so they can clone it and make thousands of more trees to plant throughout the southeast.

Surrounding Big Tree are a few stone benches so you can sit and and enjoy the peacefulness of the park. Read a book, have a snack, contemplate our place in the universe, just refrain from climbing on Big Tree.

Super cool tree! It’s so nice to have a piece of living history that hasn’t been destroyed by the rapid urbanization going on here.

Pretty cool! The plaque is super informative, just a small block with a big tree! Parking on the curb free right at it! I love southern trees and this was beautiful!

No swings, no slides, no bathrooms. Nothing for kids to do, except to see an old tree. Great for the neighborhood to see a tree, but that's about it.

It's definitely a big tree!

Beautiful Tree, but more of a monument than a park!

Cozy little park tucked away in a residential neighborhood. The oak tree here is a sight to behold. It seems to be untouched and you can read about the tree’s history at the posted placards in the park. Plenty of shade to hang out and relax.

The oldest tree in Orlando is very impressive.

Enormous trunk with some branches that touch the ground. Signs request us not too climb.

Currently there is a fancy automatic electric lawn mower keeping the grass nicely manicured.

Concrete pedestals to sit on.

Street parking on Thornton Ave.
No restrooms.