Purported to be the largest of its species in the world, a baronial Sitka spruce tree draws more than 95,000 people a year to Klootchy Creek County Park. When last measured in 1973, the tree was 52 feet, 6 inches in circumference and 216 feet tall with a 93-foot crown spread.

The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 blew off the top of the tree. A lightning bolt in the early 1970s left a scar partway up the trunk. Estimated to be 400 years old, the spruce shows its age.

On a beautiful summer day, easily 1,000 people drop by the park along U.S. Highway 26, five miles east of Seaside. Even in the winter months the park draws many local fishermen who come to dip their lines in the Necanicum.