History Told by Colorado's Oldest Tree
- Tim
- Oct 29, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 12, 2025
Living Monuments
Living on the Continental Divide is not easy. Mountainous terrain, rocky soil, unforgiving winds, and long winters are only some of the challenges humans, wildlife, and plant life face in South Park.
But with adversity comes strength. The Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) is a testament to this.
Despite growing in extremely harsh environments, Rocky Mountain bristlecones are among the longest living organisms in existence, with the oldest living in South Park for millennia.
Three species of bristlecone pine grace the American West. The Rocky Mountain bristlecone inhabits Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. The foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana) lives in California.
Saving the oldest for last, The Great Basin bristlecone (Pinus longaeva) can be found in California, Utah, and Nevada. Methuselah, a Great Basin bristlecone in the White Mountains of Inyo County, California, is estimated to be over 4,850 years old. Methuselah was alive while the Great Pyramids of Giza were being built. Methuselah is the oldest confirmed non-clonal organism on Earth.
Clonal organisms reproduce asexually, meaning their offspring are genetically identical to their parents. The oldest clonal organism is Pando - a stand of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah, estimated to be 80,000 years old. Pando started life during the last Ice Age, before Neanderthals went extinct and humans reached North America. Pando saw woolly mammoth and saber-toothed cats roam the continent.
Our local Rocky Mountain bristlecones boast an impressive track record too.
South Park's Ancient Elders
A 1992 study conducted by U.S. Geological Survey and University of Colorado, Boulder scientists
F. Craig Brunstein and David Yamaguchi documented the longest-living Rocky Mountain bristlecone trees.
The four oldest individuals are found right here in South Park, on Black Mountain, west of Guffey. The trees' exact locations are kept secret for protection.
The oldest of these, which the study identifies as CB-90-11, is confirmed to be at least 2,468 years old as of 2025.
One of the world's oldest living organisms deserves a name more distinguished than CB-90-11, don't you think? I think a fitting name, stemming from those who once thrived throughout the rugged southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau, is Nanapüch - the Ute Mountain Ute word for elder.
If trees could talk, what stories might Nanapüch tell us?
From Ancient Athens to Artificial Intelligence
Nanapüch first sprouted in 442 BCE, the same year the Greek tragedy Antigone was written by playwright Sophocles. In Athens, the Parthenon was nearing completion. Much like Nanapüch, the Parthenon still stands today, although aged and weathered as a symbol of a time long past.
The oldest person on record is Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years old. Nanapüch has lived over 20 times longer than Jeanne. If Jeanne were born the same year Nanapüch sprouted, she would have outlived Alexander the Great by three years.
Even after 122 years growing atop Black Mountain, Nanapüch may not have been much taller than Jeanne or Alexander. Due to the challenging environment in which it lives, bristlecone pines often experience extremely slow growth rates - sometimes less than one inch per year.
As the tortoise and the hare has taught us: slow and steady wins the race. This slow growth is the key to a long life, as it allows these trees to form "incredibly dense wood which provides resistance from insects, fungi, rot, and erosion." Additionally, living at cold, windy, high-elevation environments where many other trees cannot grow helps them avoid deadly wildfires.
Strip-bark growth is another secret to success. Many admire bristlecones for their vibrant, twisted bark and how only part of old growth trees appear to be alive. Strip-bark trees are unique in that their individual roots are connected to only a portion of the branches, meaning the tree can continue living even if most roots die. This survival strategy is important on rocky slopes, which may erode over time, exposing sensitive roots to the elements.
Nanapüch turned 500 years old in 59 CE. Emperor Nero ruled the Roman Empire, who ordered
his own mother's execution in the same year. Christianity was spreading throughout the region.
Paul the Apostle had recently completed his third missionary journey, during which he was arrested in Jerusalem and imprisoned for several years, described in Acts 18:22-23.
While having many millennia of life ahead, at this point, Nanapüch has outlived the longest-living vertebrate animal - the Greenland shark, the oldest of which scientists estimate to be about 500 years old.
By Nannapüch's millennial jubilee in 559 CE, Mount Vesuvius had erupted, burying Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other nearby cities; the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty had fallen; the pre-Aztech Mesoamericans had completed the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacan, now Mexico. and the Huns - most famous today for their ruler Attila - had risen and fallen after many conflicts with the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
The next 500 years witnessed the rise and spread of Islam, the invention of gunpowder in China, and the golden age of the Vikings. Leif Erikson, a Viking explorer, is regarded as the first European to set foot in North America around 1,000 CE in what is now Newfoundland, Canada.
On Nanapüch's 2,000th birthday, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England, marking the start of the Elizabethan Era, which lasted throughout her reign until 1603. Often referred to as the English Renaissance, this period saw the proliferation of art, literature, architecture, and theater, including the works of William Shakespeare.
At 2,348 years old, Nanapüch watched Zebulon Pike, famed explorer and Brigadier General of the U.S. Army, crest what is now Wilkerson Pass in 1806. During this expedition, Pike and his crew were searching for the source of the Mississippi River, mapping South Park along the way. Later that century, the region experienced the the Colorado Gold Rush, which brought a boom of people and industry - the relics of which are still visible today.
Today, Nanapüch stands above this beautiful mountain community, quietly observing locals and travelers enjoy everything South Park has to offer.
Standing the Test of Time
While bristlecone pines are impeccably well adapted for a long life, they are not immortal.
Today, these legendary trees are threatened by a warming climate and drought. Living at treeline, bristlecones do not have anywhere to go if their habitats become too hot. Unfortunately, longer and hotter summers make it easier for tree-killing insects, such as mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) to spread within the bristlecone's range, where they once struggled to survive. Additionally, drought makes trees weaker to pests, diseases, and harsh weather.
Bristlecones are particularly robust and are more resistant to mountain pine beetle compared to their cousins. Research suggests that bristlecones are more susceptible to the beetle if surrounded by other pine species. Therefore, landowners can support their longevity by thinning pines that are encroaching on bristlecones. Always remain vigilant to any signs of disease or rapid declining health of nearby pine trees, as this may indicate infestation of the beetle or a pathogen. If you suspect your trees are at risk, call a licensed arborist. Trees can be proactively treated to prevent beetle infestation.
Hiking through History
Bristlecones are common throughout South Park.
You can enjoy the majesty of these iconic trees easily along the Middle Fork of the South Platte River in Fairplay. Park at Fairplay Beach or at the corner of 8th and Front Street. Follow the network of trails that wind through the old mine tailings. Here, you will find many young trees. Look for foxtail-shaped branches, likely covered in speckles of white resin. In summer, you will also see spiked, maroon-colored cones characteristic of the species.
If you are up for a more challenging hike to observe older trees, the Limber Grove Trail is a must see! Both ends of the trail terminate on 4 Mile Creek Road (CR 18), so you can choose which direction to hike. The lower part of the trail begins in Horseshoe Campground. Campsites must be reserved, but there is a parking area before entering the campground. The trail begins near the back of the campground, near sites 9, 10, and 11. Hiking from this direction, you will stroll through a dense forest of pine and spruce, colored by wildflowers and lichen in the summer. As you approach treeline, you will enter Limber Grove, where you will find the beautifully twisted bark of old growth bristlecone and limber pines, another strip bark species!
Limber Grove can be accessed more readily by parking at the upper end of the trail. Drive past Horseshoe Campground for about 1.2 miles, and you will find a small parking area on the left along the creek, near the entrance to the Fourmile Campground.
I recommend starting at the lower end so you can be rewarded by these ancient giants after a shaded hike. There is something magical about emerging above the forest into Limber Grove from this direction.
Bristlecone pine, and the forests they thrive in, are one of the many aspects of South Park that make this a special place to live, work, play. It is imperative that we revere and protect these elders for they are among very few that can tell us stories from times long forgotten.
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