I'm a big fan of big trees. I've visited several of the most notable specimens in the Western U.P., including the largest Red Pine and the largest Black Ash, both the top of their class in the world. I'm convinced that there are other big 'uns out there, and after exploring some of the deepest corners of the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness, I set my sights on the Sylvania Wilderness.

I'd previously found some huge maples and yellow birches out here and pointed my GPS to the hardest to reach spots, furthest from any trails where big trees would have been spotted already. I brought along adventure regular Kurt for the occasion to keep me and the trees company.

We soon started finding big trees, easily 3' or more in diameter. Every tree seemed to be another few inches bigger around. We were edging onto record breaking territory when there it was: the biggest yellow birch in Michigan (unverified, so far!).

At 55" in diameter and 172" around, it is truly enormous. A large branch from the top had recently been blown off in a storm and that branch alone was bigger than most of the trees on my property. A gaping hole at the base of the tree had a literal mountain or porcupine poop pouring out of it – basically free fertilizer to feed this monster as it's grown over the past few centuries. 

Although we found a lot of other big trees this trip, this one is by far the biggest. Its location is top secret (for now) while I work to get it verified. The next largest is several inches less in diameter, giving this one a wide margin for the throne. Who knows, maybe there are even bigger ones out there! I'll keep searching the backwoods and will keep you posted...