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The Eagle Creek Park Big Tree Registry is a volunteer science project to inventory and catalog information about specimen big trees and family groves of big trees in the Park. The registry can be used to identify champion-size trees. Knowledge about big trees in the Park can be used for environmental education and as a scientific reference for resource management.
Eagle Creek Park land historically included old farms, private estates, and rural homesteads. Most areas had the trees removed at least once. The history and mixed management of the land allowed big trees to survive in various locations because they were intentionally preserved, or they were isolated, or by coincidence.
A field campaign in 2020-2022 acquired data about tree location, species, girth (trunk circumference), height, and shape. The project area includes Park land north of 56th St. on the east and west sides of Eagle Creek Reservoir, including the Golf Course.
The term “big tree” as used here applies only to the trees in Eagle Creek Park. The term “big” implies that a tree is large in girth and probably tall in height relative to other trees. A threshold girth of approximately 10 feet was used to catalog a tree in an inventory. Two adults can face against a 10-feet girth tree trunk and reach around to touch each other’s hands.
The inventory was iterative, building on accumulated information about locations and features of the big trees. It has shown that specific trees are big among a number of tree species and big for their species and were included in the big tree registry. With that information, champion trees were determined for selected tree species There may be more than one champion tree for a species because of close similarities.
This project is not intended to be a comprehensive inventory of all tree species in Eagle Creek Park. By nature, some tree species will often have the tallest height (Tuliptrees for example) or largest girth (Chinkapin Oak trees or Sycamores) among all the big trees in the Park. The registry includes trees from many species and each has its unique characteristics.
Signs are not located at all champion trees. For more information about the Eagle Creek Park Big Tree Registry, contact a naturalist at the Earth Discovery Center or the Ornithology Center. (April 2023)
Eagle Creek Park Big Tree Registry Champion Tree Signs 2024
Tree Information Table and Location Maps -- West Side and East Side of Reservoir
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