World's Largest Totem Pole

McKinleyville, California, United States

·

Landmarks and monuments

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

Ernest Pierson and John Nelson carved this redwood totem pole for the opening of the McKinleyville Shopping Center in McKinleyville, California; a regional tourism listing dates the opening to spring 1962. Guinness World Records says it was carved from a 500-year-old redwood and originally stood 142 feet 9 inches, but the Guinness tallest-totem-pole record belongs to a pole spliced from two sections at Alert Bay, British Columbia. About 29 feet of rotted summit was removed in 2023, according to Guinness World Records; the Mad River Union reported in May 2023 that the top three figures (Thunderbird, Redheaded Woodpecker and Coyote) were removed for safety because of rot. Published heights vary; a 2012 survey cited by the Mad River Union measured about 159 feet.

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

No recommended arrival yet

We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

World's Largest Totem Pole

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Site-level location · 40.9428° N, 124.1023° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A single redwood trunk carved in 1962 for a shopping-centre opening in McKinleyville, California, lost its top to rot in 2023.

Guinness World Records says Ernest Pierson and John Nelson carved the pole from a 500-year-old redwood tree and that it was originally 142 feet 9 inches tall. A regional tourism listing says it was carved for the opening of the McKinleyville Shopping Center in spring 1962, and the Mad River Union also dates the carving to 1962. The paper reported in May 2023 that the top three figures, Thunderbird, Redheaded Woodpecker and Coyote, were removed because of wood rot, the owner saying it was done "for the safety of all". Guinness puts the loss at about 29 feet of the summit. Blue Jay became the topmost figure.

Published heights vary. The Mad River Union says the pole was taken down and recarved in 1984 and was reported afterwards to be at least 174 feet with a lightning rod added. A 2012 survey it cites put the tip of the brass rod at 159 feet 5.5 inches and the top of Thunderbird's hat at 144 feet 8 inches. The claim is for "largest" rather than "tallest". The paper notes the carver used the word largest, and that the pole was the tallest, at 160 feet, until a 173-foot pole was erected at Alert Bay, British Columbia, in 1973. Guinness lists the Alert Bay pole, made of two spliced sections, as the tallest and ties totem poles to the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. The Mad River Union notes that local tribes did not make or erect totem poles and that some people view this pole as racist and a form of cultural appropriation.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL