Did you know some trees carry the memories of the landscape? They are called Wolf Trees, and once you know how to spot them, you’ll never hike the same way again. (note: at end of video Griff meant to say there are less than 5% of grasslands left in CA). A wolf tree is not a species. It is a survivor. These wide-crowned giants grew in open sunlight before the forest closed in around them. Their huge lower branches, twisting limbs, and massive girth tell the story of what the land once was. Wolf

What’s a wolf tree? I’m reposting this reedited reel from 2025 about something that I really love — wolf trees! In its common use here in Vermont, a “wolf tree” is a tree that was at one time (often for a century or more) growing in the middle of an open field. Now, as forests have regenerated in many of these abandoned agricultural fields, wolf trees are often growing in forests — but they are fundamentally different from other trees in the forest in many ways. The first way is by being older: