Pando Aspen Tree — Attraction in Four Corners States

I’m sorry but, respectfully, anyone who gives this magnificent creation of nature less than 5 stars, can I ask who hurt you? The world’s LARGEST organism (weighing in at nearly 13 MILLION POUNDS) and y’all have the audacity to be like “imma give it 2 stars.” And for those of you who gave it 1 star….smh 😔. It is here, free, for our wonder and awe and enjoyment to behold its magnitude and you will ungratefully give it less than 5 stars? Tis a gift! To us! No ranking system created by humans could properly do it justice. Ever! And I feel justified in saying this because I grew up in its shadows, in the tiny town of Loa. It is now in my adult years that I’m realizing the impact it had on me—the impact that can be had on someone living in such close vicinity to an ancient being like this. I try to visit it as often as I can because I now realize what an honor, what a gift, it is to live so close to it.

Next time you visit, sit within Pando. Just sit. Take it all in. Listen to the leaves dancing in the wind. Heck, maybe take a few deep breaths even (the surrounding air smells unbelievable fyi). Think of the underlying root system that spreads over 106 acres and sustains the life of more than 40,000 individual trees. Rumor has it, it started growing at the end of the last ice age. Wisdom beyond our comprehension! And we get to witness it! FOR FREE!!!

PLEASE DO NOT ENGRAVE IN THE BARK. This can cause disease. Your little initials that you might think are so cute and fun, could ultimately cause sickness or death to the tree. Show it some respect.

P.s., there’s a little turn out to the right near the “Fishlake National Forest” sign where you can park your car. There might be a closed gate, but there’s room to park a car or two. You can wander along the dirt trail that’s also there. Or, drive a bit more north of Pando and park your car at one of the designated campsites. A little walk could be just what the doctor ordered. Summer to fall is the best time to visit. Best, BEST time is when the leaves are changing in the fall (usually mid-September to early October).

I love Pando. I hope you love it too and connect with it in someway that’s bigger than yourself. I think we could all learn a thing or...

Pando, the few trails & dispersed camping are quite awesome! Though Pando itself appears to be a smaller swath with only a couple trails that we found; they were still incredible and the surrounding hillsides were covered in Aspen as well-I imagine fall would be downright heaven! Their are both campgrounds a plenty (3 seperate sights of 1-30 I think) as well as dispersed camping nearby & lakeside cabins as well as a single lodge with indelible history in a grand old cabin style. Be sure to hit the 3 mile uphill trail of Doc Creek that meanders thru Aspen and Pine to open up top onto a magnificent meadow.. Lastly it gently rains once or twice a day, at least while we were there in the summer maybe longer or harder rain in the fall or winter months, bring a parka and you'll be fine. The rain never lasted more than 15 minutes and often felt like a soft drizzle or sprinkle, we wore t shirts and we're just fine. Truly a...

What a lovely experience. We started by going up to the Fish Lake Overlook and could see the whole lake and a nice view of all of Pando. We were told that earlier in the fall you can see a heart formed by a cluster of trees partially up the mountain. We drove down the mountain, parked at the Doctor Creek Trailhead and walked into Pando. It was beautiful and quite an experience. You can feel a certain energy walking through all the interconnected trees and the landscape is beautiful. As a plus there were hundreds of cattle roaming all about the area and we got the see the cowboys and girls leading the cattle right on the main road. It was definitely worth the trip if you're going to Utah and seeing some other sights. You could even stop on your way from Bryce or...