World’s Largest Axe in Nackawic, Canada

Buried in the ground like the work of a frustrated giant, the World’s Largest Axe is a monument to the importance of lumber and forestry and also to the world’s love of giant stuff. 

Built in 1991, the huge woodsman’s tool is a gleaming symbol of the industrious lives and legacies of Canada’s lumberjacks. In the same year the axe was installed, its hometown of Nackawic in New Brunswick was named the Forestry Capital of Canada, hence the colossal construction. The shining, chromed blade of the axe is 23 feet in length and made of a solid 55 tons of steel. The handle extends another 50 feet into the air, buried for all time in a huge concrete stump that is itself 33 feet in diameter.

There is also a time capsule imbedded in the axe head for future generations to discover, although it is anyone’s guess who will think to look for such a relic inside of a giant axe. The wide stump is also host to musical and theater performances, making the world’s largest axe more than just a roadside oddity.