11 Places in Michigan You Can See Rare Dawn Redwood Trees

Find out how you can visit all of Michigan's Dawn Redwood trees and how they ended up here decades ago.

Giant Sequoia trees are simply mesmerizing.  There are three species of Sequoias according to the National Park Service,

• Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
• Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
• Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

Coast Redwoods are the largest.  They can grow to 379 feet tall and 26 feet thick.  Today, however, we're focusing on the smallest of the three Sequoia species, the Dawn Redwood.

Even though they are the small kind of Sequoia, they are still large trees, getting up to 140 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter.  They are a sight to see.

Scroll down to find the location of each Red Dawn tree in Michigan, starting with the tallest.

11 Dawn Redwood Trees in Michigan

1. City: Holland; Height: 106 feet
2. City: Paw Paw; Height: 97.1 feet
3. City: Manistee; Height: 97 feet
4. City: Jackson; Height: 90 feet
5. City: Troy; Height: 87 feet
6. City: East Lansing; Height: 86 feet
7. City: Jackson; Height: 86 feet
8. City: Holland; Height: 85.9 feet
9. City: Ann Arbor; Height: 84.7 feet
10. City: Lansing; Height: 84 feet
11. City: Lansing; Height: 79 feet

The Michigan Botanical Society keeps a running Google Doc to help us find the exact location of each tree.  Tap here to see that doc.

One thing that makes the Dawn Redwood special is that the species is not extinct.  Scientists believed that this breed of tree was long gone.  However, instead of being extinct for millions of years, it was discovered in China in the 1940s. Michigan State was one of many universities that went to China to collect seeds and then planted Dawn Redwoods in the 1950s, according to the National Park Service. 

If you've taken a photo of one of these 11 Dawn Redwood trees in Michigan, please share it with us on social media.  We would love to share your photo with everyone.

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