Minnesota may be the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, but it's also home to some of the most trees in the United States. According to the National Forest Service, there are over 125 million trees spread out throughout the state.

If you're taking a stroll through a Minnesota forest, you're likely to spot Cedar, Pine, Spruce, and Northern Red Oak trees. However, the biggest tree in the entire state belongs to none of those species, but rather from a branch (no pun intended) of the family. And where it's located will also surprise you.

KXRB logo
Get our free mobile app

Minnesota's Largest Tree

Credit: Olin Thorsson via YouTube
Credit: Olin Thorsson via YouTube
loading...

Towering over all other competitors is the tree pictured above. Just how tall and what species is it? Here's what the website, Rock Solid Minnesota has to say:

Based on this point system, the largest tree in Minnesota is the Eastern Cottonwood which has a total point value of 527.5. (Circumference: 394″, Height: 106′, Crown spread: 110′). It is located in Chippewa County near Watson.

-Rock Solid Minnesota Website

Even in the Redwood National Forest, a tree standing at over 100 feet tall would be pretty impressive.

So, where can you find this tree? At first guess, you might think somewhere up north, maybe near the boundary waters or in the heavily forested northwest part of the state, but both of those guesses would be wrong.

This Cottonwood giant, also known as a black willow, can be found along the St. Croix River.

To see the tree up close, check out the YouTube video below.

Story Sources: National Forest Service, Rock Solid Minnesota Website

10 Most Obscure Minnesota Towns

As you are making road-trip plans you might want to see if you can even find some of these Minnesota towns.

Minnesota is the Land Of 10,000 Lakes and 853 towns. Even if you know the state well I'll bet you haven't even heard of Minnesota's 10 smallest towns.

Gallery Credit: Ben Davis

More From KXRB