Nature Trail

Welcome to the Nature Trail. This trail winds through the forest for nearly a half-mile. You’ll see markers to let you know how far you’ve walked. These are calculated in feet. As you move through the trail, you’ll come to the amphitheater. Completed in 2002, this serves as an outdoor classroom. Students enjoy creating skits, singing songs, or performing a dance here. Feel free to perform your own as you pass. From the amphitheater, the trail passes along the banks of Phillips Branch, a tributary of Clear Creek. At the 150-foot mark, a dense understory of rhododendron cuts off much of the sunlight, and nothing grows beneath it. At 300 feet, you come to the creek. This is a great place to sit quietly and listen to the creek, the birds, or to dip a toe in the water. At 700 feet, the trail reaches the edge of the property and turns right. After 1,100 feet, note that the forest understory is more open, with fewer rhododendrons and more mountain laurel, indicating a drier site. After about 1,250 feet, there is a different, drier forest type. Here there are no rhododendrons in the understory, only mountain laurel. This part of the forest is also undergoing change, for the oak trees are being replaced by white pines growing up in a continuation of plant succession. We hope you’ve enjoyed this walk-through nature.