Guide 02

Choosing Safe Trees

The single most important safety decision happens before anyone leaves the ground. Learning to read a tree is a skill that lasts a lifetime.

Species

The Best Climbing Trees

Hardwood trees with dense, interlocking grain make the safest climbers. Oak is the gold standard — its branches are thick, grow at manageable angles, and rarely snap without warning. Beech, maple, and sycamore are also excellent: strong wood, predictable branch patterns, and bark that provides good grip.

Ash trees were once among the best, but the emerald ash borer has weakened millions of them across North America. If you're in an affected area, inspect ash trees very carefully or skip them entirely — a tree that looks healthy from the outside may be hollow within.

Fruit trees — apple, pear, cherry — are tempting because they're often the right size for young climbers, but their wood is softer and their branches thinner. Fine for a careful five-year-old on a low branch, risky for a rowdy eight-year-old testing limits.

Massive oak tree with strong branches
Avoid These

Trees That Look Safe But Aren't

⚠️ Brittle Wood Species

Willow, poplar, silver maple, Bradford pear, and most fast-growing ornamental trees have brittle wood that snaps without warning. A willow branch can be eight inches thick and still break under a child's weight. The rule of thumb: if a tree grows fast, its wood is usually weak.

Evergreens present their own challenges. Pine branches can be strong near the trunk but thin out quickly, and the spacing between branches often forces climbers into awkward positions. Spruce and fir branches angle downward, making them poor footholds. The one exception is a mature, thick-limbed Douglas fir — but these are typically too large for children to climb safely anyway.

Eucalyptus trees deserve special mention for families in California and the Southwest: they shed large branches spontaneously, even in calm weather. The phenomenon is called "summer branch drop" and it's well-documented by arborists. Eucalyptus should never be climbing trees.

Inspection

The Five-Point Tree Check

Before any climb, walk around the tree and check these five things. Teach your kids to do this themselves — it becomes automatic within a few sessions.

Branch Rules

Which Branches to Trust

A general guideline used by arborists and adapted for recreational climbing: a living branch should be at least as thick as your child's wrist at the point where they plan to stand, and at least as thick as your wrist where they plan to hold on. Dead branches, regardless of thickness, are never trustworthy.

Teach kids to test every branch before committing weight. Push down firmly with a hand first. Then step on it gingerly while keeping their weight on other contact points. If it bends more than an inch or two, or makes any cracking or groaning sound, it's not safe.

The safest zone of any branch is the inner third — closest to the trunk. As you move outward, the branch narrows and leverage increases. Most branch-related falls happen when a climber ventures too far out on a limb that was perfectly safe closer in.