A Walk in the Park: Angel Oak Park
Anyone who has stood under her mammoth branches has to admit the Angel Oak on Johns Island is pretty spectacular. Thought to be one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi River, the Angel Oak has grown both up and out, standing 65 feet tall with a canopy that provides 17,000 square feet of shade.
Its limbs, the size of tree trunks themselves, are so large and heavy that some of them rest on the ground (some even drop underground for a few feet and then come back up), a feature common to only the very oldest live oaks. The Angel Oak has withstood hurricanes, floods and earthquakes and inspires people to protect her from the threat of development.
Those activist efforts earlier this spring certainly attracted attention as people posed naked with the tree to raise awareness about a planned development to cut down 40 acres of forest surrounding the Angel Oak. Learn more about that project and attend a screening of “Charleston’s Angels” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3 at the Terrace Theater hosted by The TreeSpirit Project and Save The Angel Oak. View the Charleston-based segment of the upcoming feature documentary, “Out On A Limb.” Meet the filmmakers and the TreeSpirit Project founder Jack Gescheidt.
Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door. Purchase tickets online at SavetheAngelOak.org.
Just a note that we typically prefer our Park Angels wear clothes to work in the parks (hey, those rose bushes could really leave an uncomfortable scratch!).