Dangerous Trees: How to Spot and Avoid Them

Outdoor communities often discuss bear awareness, with hikers and campers equipping themselves with preventative tools, knowledge and strategies to ward off bears and avoid dangerous encounters with wildlife. This is a good thing, of course, since bears occasionally become a serious hazard, and deadly attacks do occur. However, for myself and my colleagues—long-term forestry workers—there’s a risk that often goes overlooked: trees.
According to the Work Safe BC Occupational Health and Safety Regulation section 26.1, a dangerous tree “means a tree that is a hazard to a worker due to its location or lean, its physical damage, overhead conditions, deterioration of its limbs, stem or root system or any combination of [these] conditions.” A dangerous tree can be obvious to spot or it can be camouflaged.
I had my first close call with a dangerous tree while fighting a wildfire in 2015 at Harrison Lake. I was extinguishing hotspots in a relatively open area beneath a colossal old growth Douglas fir.

Danger tree assessors bypassed the tree; it passed a brief inspection. Other than bits of burnt bark at the bottom, there were no noticeable safety concerns. This pillar of nature stood next to me as I sprayed embers with a hose, lost in thought. It towered over our worksite in a seemingly safe and sound manner. However, a professional tree faller came walking through and stopped near me to investigate. To my surprise, he was alarmed, claiming the tree was extremely dangerous and that we needed to evacuate the crew from the area immediately. Then he pointed to the problem.
Halfway up the tree, a very small plume of smoke was coming out of a hole. I didn’t see it. I was complacent, not looking up like I should’ve been.
Aside from this plume of smoke, the tree appeared stable. However, conks were present on the tree, indicating a deeper problem. It was full of heart rot, a distinct condition caused by fungal infections that colonize the heartwood of a tree, deteriorating wood cells, making them spongy and soft, eventually destabilizing the tree’s structure. Somehow, the fire bypassed the exteriors and snuck inside the tree, into the dried-out heart rot, burning its way up through its interiors.

Firefighters in the area pulled back and watched while the faller and his partner assessed the safest way to fell the tree. Then suddenly, as if nature was showing who’s in control, the mammoth conifer abruptly snapped where the plume of smoke puffed out. When it broke open, oxygen blasted the smoldering fire inside and flames shot up, making a little volcano out of the tree. It was an epic, surreal scene, like something straight out of Hollywood. It fell towards the fallers, who pounced out of the way. We rushed over, fearing the worst, but found them safe and smiling.
Watching this ancient tree snap and crash into the area I had just been working is burned into my memory. The lesson, as a forestry worker, was very clear: seemingly stable, safe trees cannot be trusted, and trusting them could mean serious injury or death. Tragically, colleagues of my friends in the forestry world have suffered this fate. And, if one looks, one can find many stories of people—not forestry workers—enjoying the forest at the wrong place and the wrong time: during a tree failure.
Some tragic examples include Thomas Bernier-Villeneuve, a 34-year-old Canadian, who was sleeping in his tent at Elk Lake, in Olympic National Park west of Seattle, when a tree landed on his tent. And a 57-year-old unnamed woman was hiking near Campbell River on Vancouver Island when she was struck and killed by a tree. Vidyut Nautiyal, a 44-year-old mother, was accompanying her son during a Boy Scout hike in Santa Clara and was killed after a tree fell on her.

It’s difficult to know whether you’re at a higher risk of being killed by a tree or a bear in the backwoods, since exact statistics don’t exist on the matter. “That would be a research question,” says danger tree specialist Dean McGeough, who has specialized in wildlife/danger trees for about 20 years.
McGeough says in the post-COVID world, the trend is that more and more people are heading into “the bush” to recreate. And this trend—coinciding with an acceleration of dangerous trees due to factors like wildfires, beetle infestations and a changing climate—means that in the decades to come, outdoor enthusiasts may be increasing their exposure to dangerous trees.
“If you continue to get wetter conditions under warmer conditions, that accelerates the growth of pathogens like decay organisms, making them more susceptible to mortality agents,”
McGeough says, regarding climate change and tree health. “You’ll see trees becoming hazardous, perhaps faster than you had thought when you’re in a situation where you’re yearly visiting a particular forested area.”

Last year, I became a certified danger tree assessor through one of McGeough’s courses. I gained a deeper awareness of how to spot dangerous trees and realized there’s a disconnect in the general public regarding danger tree awareness compared to something like bear awareness.
McGeough recommends, “If you see trees that are dying at the top or trees that are dead, or you see evidence of trees failing in the area you’ve been trying to visit . . . try to think, what’s the pattern here? Are they old deciduous trees? Are they conifer trees?” If a pattern is identified, there may be a deeper issue at hand, like root disease or fungal infections. McGeough continues, “when you go recreating, don’t pitch a tent until you’ve looked around to see. Are you camping amidst a series of dying or dead trees?”

Spotting the subtleties of dangerous trees can take a trained eye, but there are certain things you can pay attention to. Developing basic situational awareness anytime you enter a forest, particularly in non-designated recreational sites is essential. Make habits like always looking up to watch for widow-makers, snags or hung-up trees, postpone a hike if weather conditions change, or don’t listen to music if the winds picks up.

“Being aware of looking for things like woodpecker foraging,” McGeough says, “or if you see conks growing up the tree … stay away from things like that when you’re parking your vehicle or pitching a tent, or stopping to have a picnic beside a lake. Especially if the winds are picking up. Be wise about where you stop.” If you come across a tree that looks evidently dangerous, McGeough adds, simply observe, avoid and—if possible—report it to the land manager.
Even with all his experience, a specialist like McGeough still has occasional close encounters with tree failures during or after his inspections, and my story with a dangerous tree doesn’t surprise him. None of this, however, should discourage anyone from hitting the trails. Being killed by a dangerous tree is rare, but similar to wildlife awareness, outdoor lovers should be mindful of dangerous trees. Just a few minutes of observation can make the difference and prevent a hike or camping trip from turning into a tragedy.

“Increased diligence and situational awareness is fundamentally paramount to enjoying a safe outdoor experience amidst these conditions of a changing climate and the observed accelerating trend of deterioration and potential for tree failures, especially during windy conditions,” McGeough says. “Like you said, it’s looking up and looking ahead. Don’t sit down before you look up.” For those keen to learn, there’s plenty of material that McGeough has pointed me towards: the Wildlife Tree Committee of British Columbia has helpful information available to the public. For readers, Wildlife and Trees in British Columbia is another good starting point.
Excellent article. Very informative
Camped on Big Trout Lake in Algonquin with a strong wind blowing into our campsite. The other couple in our group setup their tent deeper in the forest beyond where people normally would setup their tent. The second night shortly after going to bed we heard a tremendous crashing sound. The next morning we discovered a large birch tree had fallen. If it had fallen in different direction it would have hit our friends tent. We did consider it amazing that the tree had survived the strong winds when we arrived and fell when the wind was calm.
Very helpful! Thank you!
A very thought-provoking article.. I’ve also heard about close calls & sadly, fatalities, when tree planters plant with a dead overstory during the pine beetle infestation. Your point about listening to music or podcasts with headphones in windy conditions is spot-on. One is removing a valuable asset in the forest when not being able to hear well.