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| The trail at Brigadoon overlooking Barren River Lake |
Click here for Info about Brigadoon
A map of the area
This Nature Preserve is right off of 31E below Glasgow, KY, and gives
you an idea of what a deciduous forest filled with biodiversity looks like.
At this time of the year I was hoping to find some of the first
wildflowers of the year and hear/see some migrating birds.
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| A small parking lot off of Mutter Rd holds about 10 cars. The trail begins at these posts. |
You begin your walk through a small Red Cedar thicket.
This suggests that the soil is not very rich in this one area,
but with time the cedars' roots will break up the rocky substrate
creating richer soil.
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| The first part of the walk is through a red cedar thicket. |
Ask yourself how the world would be different without fungi.
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| Shelf fungi (or bracket fungi) decomposing this fallen tree. |
Fungi take dead tissue (fallen trees) and return the nutrients
back to the soil for plants to use.
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| This is where the loop (circular path) begins. We turned right to make a counterclockwise loop. |
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| Some Harbinger of Spring at the base of a tree. |
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| This is Harbinger of Spring, an appropriate name for one of the first wildflowers to appear in Spring. |
This forest is primarily composed of oaks, hickories, and maples.
Here's a Shagbark Hickory tree with its unusual bark.
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| Shagbark Hickory |
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| I like the red color inside this hickory nut. |
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| Common Puffballs. When a raindrop hits this fungus, spores will "puff" out to be carried by the wind to another location, where new puffballs will appear. |
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| The part of the trail that overlooks Barren River Lake. |
This trail map gives you an idea of where
we were at this point of the walk.
we were at this point of the walk.
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| The leaves of Allegheny Spurge. Soon this plant will reveal its very unusual flowers. |
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| A great view of the Barren River Lake. |
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| If you look closely you can see a bunch of Hepatica along this bluff. |
Wildflowers called Hepatica.
Click any photo to enlarge it.
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| Kai appreciates the view. A great spot to listen to birds and observe what's around you. |
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| This Rhododendron will have some beautiful flowers in June. |
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| Spotted Wintergreen or Pipsissewa |
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| Walking above one of the creeks that leads into the Lake. |
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| A fern (Ebony Spleenwort) growing from a crack in a rock. |
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| Mountain Laurel, which will produce one of the most beautiful flowers you'll see in May. |
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| The little red fruit of Partidge Berry. |
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| Bloodroot grows on both sides of this creek. |
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| Bloodroot, one of my favorites. |
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| Searching for salamanders. |
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| Kai found a very young one within a couple of minutes! |
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| At this point cross the creek to continue on the trail. |
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| This entire hill will have Trout Lily flowers in a few days!! |
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| Pickerel Frog |
Walk along the creek to find some moss plants. Below are some
male mosses. You can tell by the green "florettes" at the top of
each tiny plants.
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| Rue Anemone |
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| Walk up the hill to continue your hike. |
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| I want to come back here in a week to see this Trillium flower. |
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| Some of the few Spring Beauties that we saw. |
Holly trees are one of the few kinds of trees that are either male
or female; most trees are both male and female. If it has berries
in the fall, then it is a female.
or female; most trees are both male and female. If it has berries
in the fall, then it is a female.
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| An American Holly tree. |
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| A fungus called Split Gill is rotting this piece of wood. |
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| The underside of Split Gill |
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| Circling back toward the Trailhead. |
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| Plants called Cress are blooming at this time of the year. |
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| At this point turn right to head back to the parking lot. |
This was a short but beautiful hike.
If you're in the Glasgow/Bowling Green, KY area, then
take some time and explore this forest.
I can't wait to return in April and May to see the wildflowers
at the peak of their season.
To see Brigadoon in late April
just click here.
Be sure to get outside and explore!
