BACK TO NATURE (Trail)

Amanda knows what's on the Nature Trail!

The entrance is along the fence by the ballfield concession stand.

Jack, Will, and Tom are (is?) actually just one humongous poplar tree.
Jack-in-the-pulpit. You'd see these pitcher-shaped flowers in the spring, but now is the time to see the bright red clusters of berries all over the ground.

That's why the patches grow larger each year.

The famous "Big Rock." Technically, an extrusion of igneous rock in the central piedmont's McLendon Fault region (more than you wanted to know).
The Black Lagoon in Spring.

I'm still on a high from yesterday's "baby post", but today I want to get you thinking our Sandhills Farm Life Nature Trail. The trail was dedicated over 20 years ago now, and it has endured many changes from both nature and man. Timber has been cut, ancient trees have fallen in ice storms, the stream has seen its highs and lows. But it's still a wonderful resource for the school and community to see a wide of array of diverse ecosystems in a relatively small space. In a 25 minute walk you can see both pine forest and hardwood forest, stream, pond, and marsh. Expand that to an hour and you can learn about Jack, Will, and Tom, the Black Lagoon, St. John (the toilet tree), and the Graveyard of the Pines.

Yesterday I spent a few hours getting the trail in shape for individuals, families, or school classes to take to the woods with minimal fear of tripping over limbs (you still have to watch those roots!) or getting scratched up by smilax (catbrier). The only part I haven't cleared yet is the path to the pond (Black Lagoon) and I hope to accomplish that soon. The pictures above show a few highlights you might see.