Woodcutting: A Lumberjack's Experiences of Chopping Trees Across Gielinor

Or What You Always Wanted to Know About Woodcutting But Could Never Find A Straight Answer Because No One Was Daft Enough to Do This

What *is* the best tree to cut for experience?
Are oaks really faster to cut than willows?
Are teaks faster than willows?
Where should I cut [insert tree name here]?
Where are the magic trees in Elfland?

I don't have all the answers to your woodcutting questions, but I do have some for what were the questions I wanted answered when I started out.


Introduction

I am working on getting 99 woodcutting. My current level is 93. I have cut just about every type of tree in RuneScape and I like to find trees that aren't swamped with people. For this bout of testing, I deliberately chose the most popular areas for woodcutting: Catherby/Seer's, Lletya (Elfland), Ape Atoll, Tai Bwo Wannai (TBW), Draynor, Varrock, Castle Wars (CW), Gnome stronghold and Barbarian Assault (BA).

My axe of choice: dragon. My clothing: spottier cape, boots of lightness, combat bracelet, ring of wealth (RoW), sailor's cap, Keldagrim shorts, rabbit's foot necklace. My run is always on. Unless noted, I was close to a bank or deposit box and saved my logs. Times are taken with a Timex stopwatch.


Part 1: Oaks
I chose 3 places to cut oak trees: Draynor village, Varrock west and CW. You need 15 woodcutting.


Draynor village


Dangers: Jail guards
The yellow circle shows where I cut and the line is my path to and from the bank. My test time starts and ends at the bank after I deposit the logs. The average time is: 1 minute 45 seconds.


Varrock west


Outside the west gates of Varrock are 2 oak trees. The time starts and ends at the bank when I deposit the logs. I earned 1 nest and an evil chicken random, which I ran from. Average time: 1 minute 50 seconds.

Castle Wars


Average time: 1 minute 46 seconds


Conclusion: Oaks take just under 2 minutes to cut 28 logs. That's 1,050 exp per load; approximately 31k exp per hour.

Part 2: Willows
Everyone's favorite tree! I tested at 4 locations: Draynor village, Barbarian Assault and Catherby 1 and 2. You need 30 woodcutting.


Draynor village


Dangers: 2 dark wizards
My time starts and ends at the bank after I deposit my logs. This is the top spot in F2P to cut willows and 2nd in P2P. There were 4 other players cutting at this spot. Average time: 2 minutes

Barbarian Assault


There are basically 2 spots to cut willows and each has 4 trees. There's a lone tree circled which can be used alone since willows respawn quickly. This is the top spot to cut willows in P2P. The northern spot usually has more people, so I take the southern spot or lone tree. Average time: 2 minutes.


Catherby


For this test, I started and ended at the trees. At spot 1, one other person was cutting and at spot 2, I was alone. Average time: 2 minutes.


Conclusion: Willows take 2 minutes to cut 28 logs. That's 1,890 exp per load; approximately 56,700 exp per hour. I found BA no faster than the other places I tried.

Part 3: Yews
I tested at Catherby, Legends guild and Gnome stronghold. You need 60 woodcutting.

Catherby


I call this spot Catherby since that's where I bank. Other terms for it: south of the flax field and south of Seer's. The number 1 spot to cut yews. There are 5 clustered together so you don't have to move very far to work on a tree. There is a single yew tree northeastish of the big 5 which you pass if you bank at Catherby. Another lone yew is at the northeast corner of the beehives fence. When I cut here, there were 5 other people. My times start and end at the bank after depositing a load of logs. Average time: 6 minutes


Legends guild


Recommendation: finish Legends quest to access the bank on the second floor. Otherwise bank at Ardougne.

It's pretty rare to see someone here. Times began and ended at the trees. Average time: 10 minutes.


Gnome stronghold


The second most popular place to cut yews in P2P. I stick with the 3 yews north of the farming plot and next to the bank. If you have 60 farming, you can have a yew tree of your own here. There were 1-3 people cutting yews; 1 strictly on yews and 2 others also cutting magics. Times began and ended at the bank. Average time 9 minutes.


Conclusion: The best spot, hands down, is Catherby even with other players chopping. Yews take 5-20 minutes to get 28 logs, depending on your woodcutting level and the number of players also cutting there. That's 4900 exp per load; approximately 14,700-58,800 exp per hour. Currently, yew logs sell on the GE for 360 gp each. The adage is true: if you want money, cut yews.


Part 4: Magics
The top log of the game for P2P with 250 exp per log. A dragon axe makes a slight difference in the speed of cutting magics, but not by much. You need 75 woodcutting.


Gnome stronghold


My own times were tested at the magic tree next to the farm plot. I also have a magic tree in the plot which I cut when the other tree is down to its stump. You need a farming level of 75 to grown your own magic tree. There were 1-3 people also cutting magics. Average time: 23 minutes.

Lletya (Elfland)


Required: Complete Plague City, Biohazard, Underground Pass, Regicide, Waterfall and Roving Elves quests.
Recommendations: Start Mourning's Ends part 1 to get a tiny elf crystal which, when charged, will teleport you inside Lletya for easy banking.
Dangers: 2 dire wolves to run by

There are 3 magic trees here. One person was cutting there. It can get busy, so you may have to world hop. If you have more than 1 teleport crystal/tiny elf crystal, carry one with you for easy banking. Eluned, who charges the crystals for a fee (minimum of 150 gp each), appears here about every 5 minutes. You can watch pawyas scamper and dig holes. My times began and ended at the bank and I used a teleport crystal. Average time: 14 minutes.


Conclusion: Lletya is great providing you've done the quests. Cutting there, you can get 7k exp per 28 logs or 6,750 exp per 27 logs with a teleport crystal. Approximately 28k exp (28 logs) or 27k exp (27 logs). Currently, magic logs sell on the GE for 1100 gp each.


Part 5: Maples
You may have heard someone tell you, "cut willows to 95, then do maples". It sounds good until you realize maples only grow in a couple areas of Gielinor - around Seer's village, west of the Legends guild and west of the Sinclair mansion. I tested 3 areas: behind Seer's bank, west of Sinclair mansion and near the hops patch. Maples are easy to see on the world and mini map because they are brown icons. You need 45 woodcutting.



Behind the Bank
There are 3 maple trees behind the bank and they are extremely popular because they are so close to a bank. When I tested, there were 3 people cutting. Average time: 3 minutes.

Sinclair Mansion
Dangers: wolves if you go too far north
I cut on the southern 3 trees. Times started and ended at the trees and I used the deposit box to bank logs. Average time: 4 minutes.

Hops
No one was here when I was, but the boxed area is fairly popular due to it being closer to the bank. Again I timed runs started and ending at the trees and used the nearest bank teller to deposit logs. Average time: 4 minutes 10 seconds.

Conclusion: Maple logs are good money with the GE because F2P can easily buy them. Maples take 4 minutes for 28 logs and are a good run from a bank. You get 2800 exp per load; approximately 42k exp per hour.

Part 6: Teaks and Mahogany
The closest bank to either of these trees is CW, but that is 1 measly teak tree on the western end of the chompy hunting grounds. The other options for where to cut are: Ape Atoll, Tai Bwo Wannai village and Khazardi jungle. I tested on Ape Atoll and at TBW. Since there are no banks nearby, I had to drop each load. Your times may vary depending on how fast you can drop 27 logs. You need 50 woodcutting for mahogany and 35 woodcutting for teak.

Ape Atoll mahogany


Required: Complete The Grand Tree and Tree Gnome Village quests; Monkey Madness to the point where you can access Ape Atoll
Recommended: Either finish Monkey Madness or up to the point where you have made a monkey greegree (you turn into a Karamja monkey); Recipe for Disaster: Save King Awowogei for Ape Atoll teleport spell; any monkey greegree
Dangers: If you do not have a greegree equipped, you'll be attacked by everything on the island except for the gorilla priest at the Ape Atoll teleport spot

There are 2 mahogany trees on the Atoll. You can still cut trees as a monkey, so keep your greegree (if you have one) equipped. Average time: 5 minutes

Ape Atoll teak


Required: Complete The Grand Tree and Tree Gnome Village quests; Monkey Madness to the point where you can access Ape Atoll
Recommended: Either finish Monkey Madness or up to the point where you have made a monkey greegree (you turn into a Karamja monkey); Recipe for Disaster: Save King Awowogei for Ape Atoll teleport spell; any monkey greegree
Dangers: If you do not have a greegree equipped, you'll be attacked by everything on the island except for the gorilla priest at the Ape Atoll teleport spot

There are 4 teak trees close together. Keep your greegree equipped and nothing will attack you. Average time: 2 minutes.


TBW mahogany and teak


Required: Complete Druidic Ritual and Jungle Potion quests; earn 60% favor in TBW Cleanup mini game and pay 100 trading sticks to Murcaily to access the hardwood grove
Recommended: Bring your own axe. There are 2 bronze axe spawns inside the grove if you forgot yours.
Dangers: Jungle snakes inside the grove; jungle spiders, tribesman, bush snakes, mosquitoes and broodoo victims while playing the mini game and possibly just hanging around. Jungle spiders lurk in the north part of the village, near the calquat patch.

I cut a load, then dropped all the logs. You can burn the logs instead, but the area is small and not very good for building long strings of fires.

I cut mahoganys first. I got 2 nests and learned a lesson - drop your logs far away from the tree your cutting. One of the nests landed under a pile of mahogany logs and disappeared before I could dig it out. XD Average time: 4 minutes.

Teaks came next. Average time: 2 minutes


Conclusion: If you want an alternative to willows and don't mind dropping logs, try teaks. You do have to pay 100 trading sticks each time you enter the grove, so keep that in mind if you're wanting to bank the logs. Mahogany: 3,500 exp per 28 logs; approximately 52,500 exp per hour. Teaks: 2,380 exp per 28 logs; approximately 71,400 exp per hour.


Part 7: Eucalyptus
A new type of tree sprouted in the Feldip Hills area: the eucalyptus. There's only one place to cut these trees and that's at Oo'glog.

Oo'glog


Required: Complete Druidic Ritual, Jungle Potion, Zogre Flesh Eaters, Big Chompy Bird Hunting quests; start As A First Resort quest for access to the bank, 58 woodcutting
Recommended: Complete As A First Resort for access to the salt water pool which gives unlimited run energy for a short time
Dangers: Ogresses, Ogress warriors, Ogress champions, wolves

Find a couple of trees close together, but stay out of the way of the ogresses and wolves. The red circled water is the salt water pool. Hop in it for a bit and get a boost to your run energy. Average time: 6 minutes 20 seconds.


Conclusion: Eucalyptus cut about the same as yews, but are further from a bank. Every 2 runs I had to hop in the pool again. 4,620 exp per 28 logs; approximately 41k exp per hour.

EDIT: Found an html error and cleaned it up.
EDIT 2: Found minor spelling errors and fixed them. :P