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The first Europeans exploring present West Virginia saw giant trees of oak, maple, sycamore, hemlock, walnut, and tulip poplar. The biggest of the trees grew on deep, rich soils. Some were big enough to elicit individual notice. George Washington's journal from 1770 describes a large sycamore along the lower Kanawha River measuring 45 feet around the trunk.  
  
The present champion is a sycamore near Viola in Marshall County, with a circumference of 311 inches, which makes it more nearly 26 feet around. At 117 feet tall, it is not the tallest, however. That honor goes to a towering yellow poplar standing 173 feet tall in Nicholas County.

Following is a list of the largest trees of 25 species common to West Virginia:



Species
Circumference  
(inches)
Height  
(feet)
County
American basswood  
151
 78
Jefferson
American beech
168
 94
Fayette
Bigtooth aspen
 91
123
Pocahontas
Black birch
 97
 94
Pendleton
Black cherry
189
 98
Randolph
Blackgum
189
131
Marion
Black locust
173
 78
Preston
Black oak
210
 94
Mineral
Black walnut
202
 64
Berkeley
Boxelder
140
 60
Wood
Chestnut oak
216
 96
Upshur
Cucumbertree
216
 25
Berkeley
Northern red oak
272
106
Ohio
Red maple
144
 115
Randolph
Scarlet oak
211
110
Jackson
Shagbark hickory
 83
 94
Summers
Sourwood
 85
 98
Wayne
Sugar maple
199
108
Jefferson
Sycamore
311
117
Marshall
Virginia pine
125
 65
Monongalia
White ash
205
108
Mercer
White oak
244
 89
Tucker
White pine
140
138
Greenbrier
Yellow buckeye
204
130
Nicholas
Yellow poplar
213
88
Nicholas

Source: Big Tree Program, West Virginia Department of Commerce