The Dover Oak: 300 years strong

Twelve stalwart middle schoolers, and their intrepid teachers hike annually through a four-mile section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Eastern Dutchess County, NY. As they wind their way down the path from a sunny apple-tree filled meadow, they come upon the massive 300-year-old Dover Oak. Since the early 1700s, when the Algonquin tribe still walked the land, its life was contained in an acorn. This Eastern White Oak (Quercus alba), the largest on the length of the Appalachian Trail, the 2,180-mile footpath from Georgia to Maine, has been growing strong and steady. A witness to three centuries of its local history, this ancient survivor has withstood the march of time.

It was a sapling in 1778 when General George Washington blockaded Fredericksburgh, New York, with his 13,000 troops (to keep the British in New York City) and established his Headquarters in the house of John Kane in Pawling, a few miles from the Dover Oak. Surely during our Civil War in the 1860s, the now larger oak gave shelter to Union soldiers in NY’s Fifth Regiment. Then in 1916 when W.E.B. Du Bois and other activists met in the historic Amenia Conferences at Troutbeck, whose purpose was to advance the standing of black citizens in America, (culminating in the NAACP), travelers exclaimed at the breadth of the limbs of the Dover Oak. How does a tree survive de-forestation, being chopped up for firewood, disease, air pollution, drought, and now the impact of climate change?

Your journey on the Appalachian Trail begins at the Great Swamp, New York State’s third largest freshwater wetlands. A bridge allows you to cross the Swamp River, and the hardest part of the trek begins as you head up through the woods. Reaching the top of Corbin Hill, your pathway opens onto the sunny farmland following the perimeter of the fields. Carefully walk down the fieldstone steps, then crane your neck to see the massive limbs of a huge, 114-foot tree reaching skywards above you. You have reached the Dover Oak on West Dover Road in Pawling. This magnificent landmark is on the New York State’s Big Tree Registry as the largest Eastern White Oak.

Tom Fahsbender

To stand near it is overwhelming. Embracing the 20-foot circumference is like hugging an elephant. The sunlight filters down endless convolutions of gnarly bark. You might see a gossamer spiderweb undulating in the wind, catching rainbows from the sun. Squirrels and chipmunks gather on its branches. The base of the trunk resembles the foot of a giant elephant. The surrounding soil is tamped down by the feet of many pilgrims who pay homage to this wonder of nature and survival.

Tom Fahsbender, Director of Experiential Education at the Washington (CT) Montessori School and math and science teacher, has been bringing groups of his middle school students on hiking and backpacking trips on various sections of the Appalachian Trail for the past twenty years. “The trail from the AT train stop on Route 22 to Telephone Pioneers shelter is a favorite of my students, mainly because of the Dover Oak. We generally have about 8 to 10 kids, and the hike is rigorous. After we trek up the hill, over the crest and then slog down through some consistently muddy sections, we climb down a few stone steps and suddenly we are confronted by this glorious, monstrous tree. At this point in the hike the kids are pretty tired, but they get so excited being in the presence of this ancient oak. We spend time talking about its age and all the things that it’s seen, we join hands to measure its circumference and pace out the vast reach of its branches, but mostly the students just like being with the tree. They touch its bark and try to find creatures in the crevices or up in the branches. It is, in the truest sense, awesome.”

Tom Fahsbender