It shouldn’t come as a surprise to residents of Warren County that two of the state’s biggest trees are right here.

The New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s “The State We’re In,” written by Co-Executive Director John S. Watson Jr. featured the great trees of New Jersey recently.

Since the 1930s, New Jersey has kept records of the largest trees in the state through the Big Tree Conservation Program (formerly known as the Champion Tree Program).

Among the 569 tries on the list are the George Washington Sycamore on Bridgeville Road in Hope and the Shoe Tree on Oxford Street in Belvidere.

The sycamore got its name from a sweltering hot day in July 1787 when General Washington was traveling through New Jersey and stopped in the town of Hope to see the Moravian mills. Needing a break from the heat, Washington dismounted from his horse and napped beneath the shading canopy of a sycamore. The famous tree still stands in front of the Swayze Inn Farm, now also known for its Jacob sheep and for the flags and Halloween decorations the May family, owners of the farm, hang from its magnificent branches.

The Shoe Tree gets its name from local lore that claims country residents two centuries ago stopped under the tree on Sunday mornings to put on their shoes. Farm families often walked barefoot, saving their precious shoes for cold weather and special occasions, like church. Prior to Sunday worship services, they sat beneath a white oak tree and pulled on shoes before crossing the village green to go to church. The Shoe Tree was almost chopped down for a road project, but a public outcry saved it.

Prior to 2019, the state tracked the champion trees of each species, now the list includes all the living giants whose impressive height, trunk circumference and crown spread are measured as part of a ranking system. Some are not the largest of their species but may have outstanding historic value, like the two in Warren County.

The state Department of Environmental Protection maintains a “big tree list, accessible at: https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/forest/bigtrees/treesofinterest.html?utm_campaign=20220513_nwsltr&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery. In addition to being able to see tree locations on a New Jersey map, you can click on the “layers” function to bring up a table that’s searchable by species, height, county location and other variables.