This western larch, known as "Gus," is the world's largest known larch and is about 1,000 years old and 163 feet tall, with another 10 feet of dead top.

Tamarack is a smaller tree, seldom exceeding 75 feet in height, while western larch can exceed 180 feet. Tamarack trees may live for 200 years, while western larch can often exceed 400 years of age.

All of this is true with one glorious exception in Oregon: the western larch. One of nature’s great paradoxes, the western larch is a conifer that loses its needles every fall.

You can spot the gold of the larch trees high on the eastern and northern Cascades in Washington. But to really see them, to feel their softness and breathe in their scent, you must hike. Up. And ...

Western larch, however, grows tall and straight at lower elevations and is prized by the timber industry. Because of their handsomeness, larch logs are peeled for the outside layer of plywood sheets.

The supposed largest western larch in the world can be found just outside Seeley Lake, Errecart said. The tree, known as Gus, is thought to be 1,000 years old and stands 153 feet tall, two feet ...