Trails take visitors up the slopes and through our thirty acres of primarily hardwood forest.
A variety of native hardwoods form the backbone of this 100-year old forest, with softwood pioneer trees filling in where light has entered and along the forest edge. Along these edges, visitors may observe some of the largest trees on the site, emerging from the old stone piles surrounding the meadow. There are many micro-environments throughout the forest, for instance where water seeps, where more or less light is available, where rocks predominate on the talus escarpment. Key features on a woods walk include this dramatic talus area on our southern edge and vernal pools at its base, the seep or spring (depending on the season) at our western border. A variety of ferns, mosses, and lichens find homes in various micro-climates throughout. Our forest is heavily browsed by white tail deer limiting the low growing natives that can thrive. Ferns that are unappetizing to deer, however, form beautiful glades throughout the woods. In select areas we are fencing deer exclosures in hopes of supporting growth of often browsed species.
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Native Back Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Black Oak (Quercus velutina)
Red Oak (Quercus ruba)
White Oak (Quercus alba),
Chestnut Oak (Quercus montana)
White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera),
Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
Sweet Birch (Betula lenta),
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Black Gum, Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum).
Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra)
American Chestnut (Castanea dentata)
Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Mountain Laurel (P
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
Northern Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
Huckleberry (Vaccinium sp.)
Hay-scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis)
Rare Club-moss or Ground Pine (Lycopodium obscurium)
Pincushion Moss (Leucobryum glaucum)
Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)
Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens)
Striped Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Indian Pipes or Ghost Plant (Monotropa uniflora)
Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
Appalachian Sedge (Carex appalachica)
bower (noun) 1. a pleasant shady place; 2. a retreat or sanctuary