A Col­orado Christ­mas tree that will grace the nation’s Capi­tol this hol­i­day sea­son has been cut and read­ied to vis­it sev­er­al com­mu­ni­ties before its jour­ney to Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

The 55-foot-tall and 25-foot-wide Engel­man Spruce, from the Grand Mesa, Uncom­pah­gre and Gun­ni­son Nation­al Forests, was cut down on Thurs­day and loaded onto a semi­trail­er, accord­ing to U.S. For­est Ser­vice officials.

The mas­sive tree is being trucked by a semi­trail­er with a cus­tom paint job illus­trat­ing the U.S. Capi­tol, a lit Christ­mas tree and snow-cov­ered mountains.

Each year a new tree is select­ed from among the country’s 155 Nation­al For­est to be dis­played on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capi­tol build­ing for the hol­i­day sea­son. The 2019 tree was from the Car­son Nation­al For­est in neigh­bor­ing north­ern New Mexico.

“The project is made pos­si­ble with sup­port from part­ners includ­ing the non­prof­it Choose Out­doors and Col­orado Tourism along with cash and in-kind con­tri­bu­tions from com­pa­nies of all sizes, as well as vol­un­teers,” accord­ing to the for­est service.

Cranes were used to ease the tree onto a trail­er and it will vis­it 10 com­mu­ni­ties, nine in Col­orado and one in North Car­oli­na, as it makes the rough­ly 2,000-mile trip east start­ing on Nov. 10, accord­ing to the for­est service.

Stops in Col­orado kick off Tues­day in Nor­wood and Mon­trose, with a stop in Den­ver on Sat­ur­day, Nov. 14. A stop in Asheville, N.C., is sched­uled on Nov. 17. For a com­plete list see the U.S. Capi­tol Christ­mas Tree page on Facebook.

At the stops well-wish­ers and fans will have a chance to take pho­tographs, sign ban­ners on the sides of the truck, and learn more about the 50-year Capi­tol Christ­mas tree tra­di­tion. Fes­tiv­i­ties are free and open to the public.