Photo courtesy of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Eastern White Pine
Eastern White Pine
The Japanese have long recognized the benefits of communing with trees. They have an expression for it, shinrin-yoku, meaning “forest bathing.” In Minnesota, we have plenty of public forests well-suited to the practice, especially in the state’s northland.
But the Twin Cities proper hold some impressive specimens, too, including a handful of state champs, according to Amelie Hyams, who curates the state’s Big Tree Registry as an outreach specialist for forestry with the Department of Natural Resources.
Some of these specimens are monumental, 300-year-old trees. So if you could use a dose of natural awe and a sense of long-term perspective—and who couldn’t these days?—here are 10 city (and suburban) trees you should visit.
Eastern white pine
What is the tallest tree in Minneapolis? That data point is surprisingly hard to nail down. But a dandy candidate exists in the backyard of a south Minneapolis residence on the 4900 block of Girard Avenue. (You can easily admire it from the sidewalk.) With an estimated height of 115 feet, it stands taller than the state champion white pine, but ranks slightly lower, due to a smaller crown spread. 4917 Girard Ave. S., Mpls. Coordinates: 44.91362, -93.29711
Bur oak
Located on the western shore of Wirth Lake, in Theodore Wirth Park, this roughly 300-year-old oak survived some severe damage from the 2011 tornado. But the Rockwood Oak (named in honor of a former park board attorney) proved to be a survivor. The big, battered beast shows its age on its trunk, which is covered with carbuncle-like growths known as burls. Theodore Wirth Park, 1 Theodore Wirth Pkwy., Mpls. Coordinates: 44.98009, -93.32739
Butternut
Roseville’s Reservoir Woods Park is home to the state’s largest butternut: Its waistline measures over 17 feet! This champion shade tree got on the Big Tree Registry after a group of fifth graders submitted a nomination back in 2004. (Though that’s a blink of the eye in tree time, those kids are adults now.) Look to the east of the St. Paul Regional Water Facility, above the bike trail. Reservoir Woods Park, 1901 Alta Vista Dr., Roseville
American basswood
Minnesota’s state champion basswood hangs over a sloping hillside in Northeast Minneapolis’s Windom Park. Located just southwest of the park building, it has been honored as a “heritage tree” by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. This tree is located about 100 feet southwest of the park building, on a sloping hill. Windom Park, 2251 NE Hayes St., Mpls. Coordinates: 45.01249, -93.23603
American elm
The devastation wrought by the advent of Dutch elm disease might make you think all the elms are gone. But some hardy specimens have endured. A particularly impressive survivor—and reigning state champ—occupies the front yard of 3533 Pleasant Avenue South in south Minneapolis. Coordinates: 44.938575, -93.282619
Eastern hemlock
Via Shutterstock
Eastern Hemlock
Eastern Hemlock
Minneapolis’s Theodore Wirth Park is home to some of the metro’s most impressive trees, including a state co-champion eastern hemlock. Seventy-five feet tall, with a circumference of 87 inches, this giant joins a mini grove of six hemlocks just south of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. 1301 Theodore Wirth Pkwy., Mpls. Coordinates: 44.973589, -93.31977
Box elder
Some of the Twin Cities’ most notable trees occupy less-than-bucolic settings. Case in point: The 50-foot-tall box elder that erupts out of a narrow band of grass on the northern edge of a University of Minnesota parking lot at the intersection of Como Avenue and 29th Avenue Southeast in Minneapolis. It’s a state champ! Coordinates: 44.98778, -93.211944
Northern catalpa
With enormous leaves, gorgeous white spring flowers, and a highly irregular shape, catalpas proved popular in the early 20th century—before falling out of style. Check out this massive specimen—69 feet tall with a 56-foot canopy span—located in the front yard of a private residence in Marcy-Holmes, at 714 Southeast 5th Street. Coordinates: 44.985324, -93.243842
River birch
In nature, this tree appears exclusively in floodplains. But, increasingly, this fast-growing and handsome tree has been planted in boulevards and parks. The metro holds both the state’s co-champion river birches, including a 78-foot specimen located in North St. Paul’s Tower Park (at North 2nd Street and 14th Avenue East). The other big birch sits on the boulevard in front of 1960 Margaret Street, on the east side of St. Paul. Tower Park (2nd Street N./14th Ave. E., Mpls.); 1960 Margaret St., St. Paul
Eastern cottonwood
The mighty cottonwood is lord of the river bottoms, especially in the vicinity of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. But it also sprouts up in less expected realms. An awesome example of that: a specimen with a massive 23-foot circumference that sits in front of a private residence in the 3900 block of North 6th Street in north Minneapolis, a hardscrabble residential street that abuts I-94. 3919 N. 6th St., Mpls. Coordinates: 45.02648, -93.28671
