Olympia's Biggest Tree Contest

The Tree Ambassador Program presents the winner of the Olympia Biggest Tree Contest!

Between Oct 2024 and then resuming March thru June 2025, 11 trained volunteers canvased Olympia neighborhoods sharing our Benefits of Trees handout with neighbors. We worked to educate the public about all the amazing things trees do for us and the reasons to protect them. In conjunction with that, we also held a contest for the biggest trees in Olympia. We focused on biggest trees because the biggest trees do the most carbon and pollution drawdown, store the most carbon, and do the most stormwater management – along side all the other great things that they and all trees do.

We wanted to identify the largest tree in Olympia – which is: A 31’ 11” Giant Sequoia! (CA native)

But we also wanted to identify the largest in each species and the largest in each of 5 quadrants of the city: NW, SW, downtown, NE and SE. We discovered that a few species are so social (Western Red Cedar and Pacific Redwood) that is it common for them to grow up so close together that their bases merge. So for those two species we have a single tree category and a twins/triplet, etc multiples category. Thus the absolutely largest tree is a 6 part merged Pacific Redwood at 1701 4th Ave W (can be viewed from the Alley) Below you will find listed by species the largest in the city and then largest ones in other sections of the city.

It is our intention to create a tour map for the entire city of the largest of each species. We also will create a walking tree tour map for each of the 5 city sections showing the largest trees of interest in that section.

If you have a tree that is bigger than the below ones, while it maybe too late for the map, we will be updating this listing and you can email us at lynn@fitz-hugh.org. We will verify your tree’s measurements and add it to our website here.

It is an industry standard to list DBH (diameter at Breast height for trees). Diameter of course is figured from circumference. We measured all trees circumferences so that is what is listed here. Feel free to convert that to its DBH if you prefer that information.

#1 Giant Sequoia

Our first place winner for Olympia's biggest tree goes to this Giant Sequoia (CA native) at an impressive 31’ 11” in circumference! The location of this tree is undisclosed by the owner.

#2 Coastal Redwood

In second place is one of the largest Coastal Redwoods in Olympia. This tree is actually four trees that have grown together at the base, giving it a circumference of 30' exactly. This tree resides at 1701 4th Ave W.

Photo from The Olympian

#3 Coastal Redwood

The winning single trunk redwood was 25’ 11” and was in the front yard at 2116 Bethell NE, but in the backyard were two more almost as big! This winner, pictured here, also towers 5 stories high.

#1 Red Western Cedar

The winner for the biggest native tree is another tree that is four trees grown together! It is located n front of an apartment building at 315 Puget St. NE, measuring 22’ 11” below the separation of its 4 trunks.

#2 Douglas Fir

The largest Douglas fir we found was 19’ in diameter at 1201 Centerwood Dr. SE, which would make it about 390 years old!

#3 Big Leaf Maple

In third place for biggest native tree is a Big Leaf Maple measuring in at 18’ 9”, this tree is living at 1120 San Francisco Ave NE.

We are not confident that this Big Leaf Maple or Douglas Fir are the biggest ones in Olympia, but please contact us if you have a bigger one you'd like to share!

Tree Survey Results