Deep in the Tushars, you can find an unbelievable tree, that is rightly called the “Big Tree.” This towering ponderosa pine will shock the whole family, and the trail to get there is a fun walk in the woods.

HOW TO GET THERE

Drive up SR-153 just past the Telluride hydroelectric power plant, to mile marker 10.7, and pull out on the right just past the pipeline suspended over the highway.  There’s plenty of parking near all the sections of old steel pipeline. Walk past the barn on F.R.(forest road) 630 for just over half a mile and look for the first-level field of sagebrush on the right.  This area is known as White’s Pasture and there’s a trail marker for trail #230 which guides you almost directly south towards the Big Tree. There are two logs that you can use to cross the South Fork of the Beaver River, then in about 50 yards you’ll see a trail to the left which goes a short distance to the base of a massive ponderosa pine.