Le Sapin Président de la forêt de la Joux

Supt

In one of the finest fir forests in Europe, a unique forestry tradition has endured since 1897: each generation, the forest wardens designate the finest tree in the forest of La Joux as the "Sapin Président" (President Fir), consigning it to admiration rather than to the axe. The very first, felled in 1942 after being worn down by time, rose to 52 metres with a girth of 7 metres at its base — a colossus whose legend still haunts the forest. Its successor, elected in 1964, today stands about 45 metres tall, a slender silhouette recognisable among all others along the Route des Sapins. But the present patriarch is in turn showing signs of exhaustion: dieback of the crown, concern among forestry technicians, rescue measures undertaken in an attempt to prolong its reign. To walk out to it is to understand why the fir, here, is not a mere timber tree but a living monument, elected by its human peers as kings once were by anointing. Around it, the whole forest seems to stand in silence, as if to salute the one who bears, for the span of a generation, the strangest title in all of French forestry.

Getting there : Via the Route des Sapins (unclassified D road) in the heart of the forest of La Joux, between Champagnole and Supt (Jura)

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound