Tree Height Calculator: How Tall Is My Tree?

How to measure tree height (no tools needed)

Use triangles. Measure your distance to the trunk, sight the top and the base of the tree, and the calculator does the math. No tape? Count your steps, or use car lengths or house widths. The calculator marks those answers “ballpark”.

Pick a method

The Pro card is for arborists: top and base readings, slopes, eye height, and the level distance (HD) from a laser.

How to measure tree height with your phone

Your phone already has the tool you need. On an iPhone, open the Measure app and tap Level. On Android, many free level apps show degrees. Measure your distance to the trunk, then read the angle to the very top.

1. Stand where you can see the top of the tree. Measure your distance to the trunk with a tape, or count your steps.
2. Hold the phone on its long edge. Point the top edge at the very top of the tree, like aiming down a ruler, and read the degrees.
3. On flat ground, pick your height in the calculator (it uses your eye height). On a slope, point the phone at the base of the tree too, read that angle, and pick whether the base is lower or higher than your eyes.
4. Enter the numbers in the calculator.

• Example: you stand 60 feet from the trunk. The top reads 40 degrees, and the base is 3 degrees below your eyes. Height = 60 × (0.839 + 0.052) = about 53 feet.
• Flat-ground shortcut: skip the base angle and add your eye height instead. For example, 50 feet away, with the top at 45 degrees and your eyes 5 feet up: 50 × 1.0 + 5 = 55 feet. This only works on flat ground.

What is a clinometer?

A clinometer is a small tool that measures an angle: how far you tilt your eyes up to see the top of a tree. Foresters and arborists use one to measure tree height. You do not need to buy one. The level in your phone measures the same angle, and the calculator above turns it into a height.

How do I use a clinometer?

On the percent scale, stand 100 feet from the tree and read the top and the base. Height = distance × (top reading minus base reading) ÷ 100.

• If the base is below your eyes, its reading is a minus number. Subtracting a minus number adds it.
• Example: 100 feet away, the top reads 62% and the base reads minus 5%. 100 × (62 + 5) ÷ 100 = 67 feet.
• For a tree over 100 feet tall, stand 200 feet away.
• Some clinometers also have a “topo” scale. Stand 66 feet away and read the height in feet. It works for trees up to about 50 feet.
• On a slope: type the base reading, then pick “Below my eyes” or “Above my eyes (uphill)”. (A minus sign also means below.) The calculator then adds or subtracts it for you.

How does the stick method (stick trick) work?

Hold a stick straight up at arm’s length and walk until it covers the whole tree. Your distance to the tree is about the tree’s height.

1. Find a straight stick as long as the distance from your eye to your hand, with your arm held straight out.
2. Hold the stick straight up at arm’s length.
3. Walk forward or back until the top of the stick lines up with the top of the tree, and your fist lines up with the base.
4. Measure your distance to the tree. That distance is the tree’s height.

• Example: you end up 45 feet from the trunk, so the tree is about 45 feet tall.
• No tape? Count your steps. 18 steps of about 2.5 feet = 45 feet. That is a ballpark number.
• In the 2022 study, the stick method missed by about 3 feet on average. It read mid-height trees a little short and the tallest trees a little tall.

How does the shadow method work?

On a sunny day, a tree and you cast shadows in the same proportion. Height = the tree’s shadow × your height ÷ your shadow. (A stick works too: use the stick’s height and its shadow.)

• Example: the tree’s shadow is 40 feet long. You are 5.5 feet tall and your shadow is 4 feet long. 40 × 5.5 ÷ 4 = 55 feet.
• If you count steps for both shadows, use the same kind of steps. The step length cancels out.
• Measure both shadows at the same time, on flat ground.
• This is plain geometry, and our sources have no accuracy study for it. Use it for fun or a rough check.

Quick guess: compare it to a house

Find a house, telephone pole or building near the tree. Stand back and see how many of them would stack up to the treetop. A 2-story house is about 25 to 30 feet tall, so a tree about 2 houses tall is about 55 feet. This is a ballpark guess, not a measurement.

How accurate are these methods?

In a 2022 study of 127 city trees, the average miss was about 0.52 m (1.7 feet) with a laser rangefinder, 0.64 m (2.1 feet) with a clinometer and 0.95 m (3.1 feet) with the stick method. Every method did better on conifers than on broadleaf trees.

Our arborists measure heights with laser rangefinders and clinometers, often when planning crane work.

Three tips for a better number:

• Measure the distance. Don’t guess it.
• Sight the true top of the tree (the main top), not a branch that is closer to you.
• If the tree leans, measure to the spot on the ground right under the top, not to the base. If you can, stand off to the side of the lean.

What can I do with my tree’s height?

Height helps you plan and compare. Here are three ways to use it:

• Use it in the tree age calculator‘s height method. Trunk width gives a better age estimate, so use height when you can’t reach the trunk.
• Compare it with the grown heights in the fast-growing tree picker (link goes live with that page).
• Add the trunk width from the tree diameter calculator, and get a rough trunk weight in the tree wood calculator (link goes live with that page).