State Champion Tree...

Location:  From the Jct of Hwy K-4 and K-92 Northeast of Topeka, go East 3 1/4 miles, turn off South at the sign (tree is visible from K-92).  The turn off is just West of the bridge across Perry Lake.

Nearest Town:  Ozawkie, KS

Special Note:  Keep an eye out for Poison Ivy in the area.

This huge Eastern Cottonwood tree has seen a lot of changes take place under it's branches.  I can remember my father telling me that he had attended school picnics under this same tree in the 1930's.   He told me that it was a large tree even back then.  A tree has less than one chance in a million of reaching this size and age.  Forces of nature such as disease, lightning, wind, and animals can all take their toll.  Man too, could have prevented this tree from growing to this size.  Had it been just a few hundred feet South or East, it would have been flooded by Lake Perry.  Still, this tree beat the odds.   The largest tree in Kansas is an awesome site.  The trunk measures 27 feet in circumference, and it stands 112 feet tall.  

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