Even though this grand oak stands at just 65 feet, its majestic boughs provide a whopping 17,000 square feet of shade to its visitors. Its longest limb is 89 feet long, and some limbs even grow underground for a few feet before coming back up above the soil's surface. This is only seen in the oldest of live oaks, such as the Angel Oak, which has stood on Johns Island for centuries.
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The Angel Oak has withstood many natural disasters throughout its life, but in 1989, category 5 Hurricane Hugo devastated the coast of South Carolina. The tree suffered great damage, including having most of its leaves blown off, but has since recovered. In the above picture, you can see that stilts have been carefully placed to ease the strain on some of its heavier branches.
This photo was taken by Samantha Keisler of Lexington in July 2007. She says that she and her husband were on their way to visit the Angel Oak when it started raining: "We decided to keep going anyways, and thankfully, right when we got there, it stopped raining and I was able to get some amazing shots!"
Learn more about the Angel Oak.
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