Illinois's Biggest Tree Discovered in New Preserve

At 122 feet tall and almost 29 feet around, the cottonwood beat out the previous champion tree, a cypress in southern Illinois.

'Jay Sturner'

Published May 2, 2018 06:00AM

Move over, cypress–there’s a new champion tree in town. Forest preserve officials in Byron discovered the new biggest tree in Illinois, an eastern cottonwood that measures 122 feet in height and almost 29 feet in circumference. The tree is part of a parcel of land recently acquired by the Byron Forest Preserve District, now called Bald Hill Prairie Preserve.

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