Red Oak Tree Bark

The bark of a red oak tree has a medium level of ridging. The red oaks have shiny centers to their cracks.

red Oak bark photo

This red oak tree has a bat house on it. Bats are our friends - they eat mosquitoes!

red Oak bark photo

Red oak is fairly distinctive in how its bark looks, with the red crevices. There are typically vertical stripes of bark running down the tree. The raised area is silver-grey in color.

red Oak bark photo

These next two images have a hammock hook stuck into the tree, which the tree is slowly absorbing.

red Oak bark photo

Another image of a red oak tree.

red Oak bark photo

I often see moss growing on red oak trunks. One theory is that moss only grows on the side of an oak tree that never gets any direct sun, so that by looking for moss you can get a general idea of which way north is. You can see the moss growth in these next photos on red oak trees.

red Oak bark photo

Here is a side by side comparison of white oak bark against red oak bark. The white oak bark is on the left and does not have the red center. The red oak bark is on the right and does have the red center.