HIKE - Champion Lodgepole Pine, San Bernardino Mountains
Lodgepole Pines are common in the Sierras where it is colder, but rare in Southern California. Lodgepole pines seldom grow taller than 70 feet and in Southern California they usually grow above 8,000 feet. An exception to these rules occurs high on the mountaintop about 3 miles south of Big Bear Lake near Bluff Lake. Bluff Lake is a shallow lake owned by the Wildlands Conservancy reserve that is surrounded by lush forest and green meadows. Here at an elevation of 7500 feet, grow the largest Lodgepole pines in the world. This small pocket of Lodgepole Pines is thought to be a remnant from a time when the climate was colder. The world "Champion" (discovered in 1963) is a magnificent, double-topped tree that towers above the surrounding forest reaching a height of 110+ feet. The circumference of the trunk at the bottom is 22 feet, however the bulbous base is 36 feet in circumference. Its age is estimated at 452 years, which means that it began to germinate in the year 1560.