Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Biggest pecan tree has 19 ft trunk circumference.

no pics in the article?

Lately I’ve been turning powder measures for my firelocks out of pecan!

A couple of recent fabrications!

That's pretty slick K!

Thanks!

Lord, what a pecan. The state record sassafras used to be around where I live. It looked like some twisted tree from the Hobbit movies.

Can't get into the write-up because of add/blocker. Do they say anything about age of the tree?

Wow, everything is bigger in Texas...out here in Calif best we can do is barely over 125 ft circumference, breast high. The big redwoods on the coast are only around 350 ft tall. But, sadly they don't produce nuts, which are mostly in San Francisco and LA.

John Watson: Champion pecan tree sits in Parker County
Mar 9, 2009


San Saba County has always advertised itself as the Pecan Capitol of Texas. Parker County, where Weatherford is located, has always been known for its peaches. Now, something has changed. Parker County is home to the national champion Pecan tree.

The pecan tree is four miles north of the courthouse on Texas Highway 51 just past the OK Corral on the right. The property is owned by Bill and Linda Finch, and they welcome visitors.

When I enquired about the champion Pecan tree at the chamber of commerce office, I was told that if the gate was open the Finches were home and accepting visitors. If the gate was closed they were not at home.

When we arrived at the farm the gate was closed, however a car and pickup were in the driveway. I had been told at the chamber office that the tree was southeast of the house so I looked back in that direction but could not spot anything I could identify as a giant pecan tree.

We left and went on a little farther north and checked out a new housing development in the area.

As we started back to Weatherford we spotted Mr. Finch at his mailbox. We pulled into his drive and introduced ourselves and told him we were interested in seeing the large pecan tree.

Mr. Finch invited us into the yard and showed us the trail leading to the back of his pasture. There was a line of trees at the back of the pasture, and he said the trail would cross a dry creek bed at the edge of the trees and the pecan tree would be on the other side of the creek.

We started walking toward the back of the pasture about a quarter mile from the house. When we crossed the creek the trail, we turned to the right, and there by the creek bank was the tree we were looking for.

There was an old dilapidated walk bridge across the creek near the tree that appeared to not have been used in many years. Several boards were missing, and the ones left appeared to be rotten. I can see why they moved the trail so that you could walk across where there were no high banks.

A large area around the tree has been cleared and kept mowed. There are picnic tables in the clearing for those who wish to bring a picnic lunch and spend some time here. This would be a good place for a picnic lunch in the summertime.

One of the first things I noticed was that four large limbs had recently been cut from the tree. The limbs had been cut into firewood lengths and stacked at the far side of the clearing. I learned later that when the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through here last spring the wind gusts blew the limbs from the tree. The tree is expected to make a full recovery and live for many more years.

There was also a large gash near the base of the trunk that appeared to be from a lightning strike several years ago.

The tree is estimated to be 118 feet in height with a crown spread of 159 feet and a trunk diameter of 7 feet.

There seems to be some controversy over the age of the tree. A county agent at one time estimated the tree to be 900-1,100 years old; however, a Forest Service official said that it was probably no more than 200-300 years old. Mr. Finch said that there is no way that he will cut the tree down to settle this argument.

The tree was declared the national champion pecan tree several years ago. Since that time two other pecan trees, one in Georgia and one in Tennessee, have laid claim to that title. Anyway, this is still the largest pecan tree in Texas.

This tree has been a popular tourist attraction for many years. Bill Finch has owned the property since the early ’80s and enjoys sharing his tree with the public. The Finches keep a guest book listing of all who have visited the tree. There is no charge for visiting the tree; however, the Finches would like for you to sign their guest book letting them know where you live.

There is a sign posted at the front of the property placed by the 4-H club which reads “Home of National Champion Pecan Tree and proud supporter of Parker County.”

Over the past three decades they have had visitors from most of the 48 states and several foreign countries.

Here’s a big pecan in Alabama. My dad is in the picture. He’s 6’3” with about the same wingspan. The tree is 20 miles south of Selma at my buddies camp.

At a buck a pound for pecans in the shell, that tree has been pretty valuable through the years!

Dayom. Heck of a pecan tree. Id be fertilizing it and treating the leaves with zinc and selling pecans.



I heard it produced 1,400 lbs year before last. The tree is still growing.

Ive heard Ca Redwoods once covered all North America. The earths cooling has left it too cold for them in the winter now, other than the west side with Pacific Currents. Dont know thats true, but we could ask Ingwe or KW if they remember.

Really nice of the owners to be so willing to allow public access to their property.

There are some giants up by campwood tx off the
Nueces River, and my uncle had some giants on the creek on his farm between denton and gainsville, as big or bigger.