Cool Tree
A map of trees people think are worth seeing.
Somebody sees a tree worth looking at, photographs it, and says why. It goes on the map. Anybody nearby can go and see it.
How it works
- 1Find oneTap Add a tree at the bottom of the screen. Photograph it and say why it is worth seeing. A photo already on your phone works too: it usually knows where it was taken. A name and a species are optional.
- 2Go and see other people'sTrees lists what other people have found, closest or coolest first, and how long it takes to walk there. Mark that you have been. Your own record is under My trees in the same place.
- 3Or start with a ringThe small rings are trees from published surveys that nobody has been to see, from street trees to thousand-year-old oaks. Tap one, go and have a look, and it goes on the map as a Cool Tree.
- 4Add to themAnybody can add photos and notes to anybody's tree, so they build up over the seasons.
Keep it on your home screen
There is nothing to download from an app store. This adds an icon that opens Cool Tree full screen, straight from your phone, exactly like an app.
On an iPhone, in Safari
Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow, at the bottom of the screen), scroll down, then tap Add to Home Screen.
On Android, in Chrome
Tap the ⋮ menu (top right), then Add to Home screen or Install app, whichever your phone offers.
This has to be done from Safari on an iPhone and Chrome on Android. Opening the link inside Instagram, WhatsApp or another app’s built in browser usually hides this option; tap the menu in that app and choose Open in Safari or Open in Chrome first.
Two things worth knowing
It works without signal. If you save a tree somewhere with no reception it waits on your phone and uploads itself when you are back, so a photo taken deep in a wood is never lost.
The pick is chosen by a person. Cool Tree pick is not a score or an algorithm. Somebody reads the trees and writes a few lines about one worth the walk.
Maps by OpenStreetMap contributors. Species identification by Pl@ntNet, with background from Wikipedia. Identifications are a guess and the app says how sure it is.
Undiscovered trees come from London council tree surveys published by the Greater London Authority, and from the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory.