The 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree is down, wrapped and about to hit the highway. Crews cut the 76-foot Engelmann spruce on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Musselshell Meadow near Weippe in Idaho’s Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, Boise State Public Radio reported, and the tree opens a public whistle-stop tour in Grangeville, Idaho, on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Over the following three weeks, the tree rolls through 10 states before it reaches the West Lawn of the Capitol, where it will stand as the nation’s “People’s Tree” for the holiday season. The Forest Service tour announcement says the festivities at each stop are free and open to the public.
A chainsaw, a crane and a blessing in the Idaho woods
About 60 people gathered in the meadow for the harvest. Nez Perce Tribal Chaplain Shannon Wheeler led a welcome ceremony, and tribal members offered a blessing and drumming before a Forest Service sawyer brought the spruce down with a large chainsaw. A crane then lifted the tree onto a long wooden trailer, according to Boise State Public Radio’s Lauren Paterson.
Idaho Sen. James Risch called it an honor for the state to provide the tree for the nation’s 250th anniversary, and Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Samuel Penney spoke about the land’s importance to the Tribe. The Architect of the Capitol now lists the 2026 tree as a 76-foot Engelmann spruce, and it joins a long line of famous American Christmas trees. Its cross-country trip also passes near several American landmarks travelers put on their bucket lists.
For the road, the tree rides inside a protective shell with viewing windows, so crowds can still see its branches and seed cones. Forest Supervisor Jon Word described a route through north-central Idaho, over Lolo Pass, into eastern Idaho and south to Twin Falls before it crosses the middle of the country.
Capitol Christmas Tree stops in Idaho and Montana
The Forest Service route starts Thursday, Oct. 29, in Grangeville, then moves to Lewiston on Friday, Oct. 30, and Moscow on Saturday, Oct. 31, which means Halloween visitors in Moscow get a 76-foot bonus. Orofino and Kamiah share Sunday, Nov. 1.
The tree crosses into Lolo, Mont., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, swings back to Salmon, Idaho, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and visits Craters of the Moon National Monument and Twin Falls on Thursday, Nov. 5. Idaho Falls follows on Friday, Nov. 6, and Gardiner, Mont., near the north entrance of Yellowstone, on Saturday, Nov. 7. The agency notes that event details are still being finalized, so times and exact locations can shift.
Small towns turning out to cheer a giant tree on a flatbed is one of those American traditions that puzzle the rest of the world, and the Idaho leg is packed: 11 stops in the first 10 days.
The 10-state route to Washington
After Montana, the tree heads to Sheridan, Wyo., on Monday, Nov. 9; Custer, S.D., on Tuesday, Nov. 10; and Mitchell, S.D., and Albert Lea, Minn., on Thursday, Nov. 12. It reaches Peoria, Ill., on Friday, Nov. 13, and Richmond, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The final week brings Morgantown, W.Va., on Monday, Nov. 16, then Hagerstown, Md., and Littlestown, Pa., on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The last listed stop is Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Thursday, Nov. 19, which is open only to people with military ID. In all, the route covers Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The official Capitol Christmas Tree site says Boise Cascade will haul the tree on a nearly 3,000-mile journey, traveling with companion trees and handmade ornaments. Families planning a holiday trip to Washington can also look at the separate National Christmas Tree ticket lottery near the White House, a different tree with its own ceremony.
Why the Capitol tree changed from a grand fir to a spruce
The spruce was not the first pick. Jim Kaufmann, the Architect of the Capitol’s executive director who handles the grounds, wrote in August that he narrowed the field to four candidates after reviewing drone footage and Forest Health Reports, then chose an 80-foot-tall, 26-foot-wide grand fir he found along a small dirt road and called “the grandest of them all.”
An editor’s note on that post says the grand fir later began showing signs of needlecast disease, so a 76-foot Engelmann spruce took its place. Kaufmann also wrote that two other trees were ruled out earlier: one stood more than 125 feet tall, and a western red cedar had branches that may not have been flexible enough for the trip. Local people, schoolchildren and volunteers made handmade ornaments for the tree, and Kaufmann made one himself.
The donor forest itself covers about 4 million acres in north-central Idaho, from the dry, rugged canyons of the Salmon River to the moist cedar forests of the Selway drainage, according to the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, which post tour updates. Anyone driving out to a stop in November can skim a list of common travel blunders first, and road-trippers hungry for more holiday stops can browse these historic Christmas towns in America.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Missvain (Sarah Stierch) – CC BY 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
