Join WPC For a Guided Fall Hike at Laurel Summit State Park

What lives in the Spruce Flats bog at the top of Laurel Ridge? Surprisingly, it's not spruce! Learn about the origin of this highlands bog, as well as the diverse plants and animals living there today. Join our staff of naturalists and fellow WPC members at Laurel Summit State Park from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 22, as we spend a few hours exploring a 4-mile loop beginning with Wolf Rocks Trail. (Registration required.) We'll stop at the Wolf Rocks Overlook for a spectacular view of Chestnut Ridge and hike in the Forbes State Forest to conclude our morning at the Spruce Flats Wildlife Management Area.

Among the most biologically diverse areas in the state, this high-elevation ridge supports forests and ecosystems usually found in more northern areas, such as northcentral Pennsylvania and New England. The south and west slopes and top of Laurel Ridge are dominated by chestnut oak or rock oak, with species such as tuliptree, basswood and sugar maple mixed in. The 305-acre bog contains species such as large cranberry, pitcher plant, sundew, cotton grass and other plants typical of plant communities farther north.

And, about that spruce? Well, it was really hemlock. Lumbermen found a forest of virgin hemlock on the bog in the early 1900s, and misnamed it before they cut the trees down. Their clear-cutting caused the water table to rise and form the swamp or bog of today.

WPC members and guests can register for the hike online by going to WPC Fall Hike, or by calling 412-288-2777 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Today's photo was taken three weeks ago by WPC's Lynne Rackley and shows Wolf Rocks Overlook as seen from the hike trail. Text was modified from the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources (DNCR) web site. More information and directions can also be found at DCNR's Hike for Health web site.

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