Last updated: August 13, 2024
Place
Stony Man: Our Changing Forest
The Stony Man Trail becomes a loop here. Take the right-hand fork in the trail to continue the tour towards the Stony Man summit, following the blue blazes. After experiencing the summit, you can return down the other side of the loop, following the now yellow blazes of the horse trail.
Take a moment to look around the surrounding forest. How old do you think these trees are? The signs of aging surround you in both obvious and subtle ways. Beneath the towering canopy, look for seeds or cones on the forest floor. Perhaps there are seeds lying dormant in the soil, or just beginning to sprout, creating a fairyland at your feet. Seeds are life packages, containing the tiny beginnings of the next generation of the forest. As we all known, seeds are just trees--in a nutshell!
Throughout the generations, Stony Man's forest has changed drastically, and because of this many of these trees are less than 100 years old. Originally timbered for use as smelting charcoal and lumber, much of the first forest here was the American Chestnut. Sometimes known as the "Redwood of the East", these giant trees were once the predominant species in eastern North America, and nearly one out of every three trees here was a chestnut. Sadly, in the early 1900s, an invasive fungal blight swept through Appalachia, killing almost all of them. While the fungus blistered the bark and weakened the trunks, the roots remained strong. This means that there are still a few chestnuts in the park, but they rarely if ever grow to be higher than shrubs before the blight cuts them down again. As you hike through the forest here in Shenandoah, think about how different this place would be if these amazing trees still towered over the forest floor. Even in death, the chestnut gives to Stony Man's forest as the ongoing changes eventually create a rich and fertile soil to nourish future life.
When the chestnuts died, the oaks took over as the dominant trees in much of Shenandoah. An oak forest supports an amazing diversity of life. The acorns will feed many of Shenandoah's animals-squirrels, chipmunks, bear, deer, turkey, ruffed grouse, songbirds, and countless insects. Intermixed are well over 1,000 different kinds of trees, shrubs and smaller plants that now live and grow in Shenandoah's forest! In the summer months, before the smaller plants die back for the winter, at least 32 different species of plants grow within 10 feet of the place where you stand! How many can you count?
Take a moment to look around the surrounding forest. How old do you think these trees are? The signs of aging surround you in both obvious and subtle ways. Beneath the towering canopy, look for seeds or cones on the forest floor. Perhaps there are seeds lying dormant in the soil, or just beginning to sprout, creating a fairyland at your feet. Seeds are life packages, containing the tiny beginnings of the next generation of the forest. As we all known, seeds are just trees--in a nutshell!
Throughout the generations, Stony Man's forest has changed drastically, and because of this many of these trees are less than 100 years old. Originally timbered for use as smelting charcoal and lumber, much of the first forest here was the American Chestnut. Sometimes known as the "Redwood of the East", these giant trees were once the predominant species in eastern North America, and nearly one out of every three trees here was a chestnut. Sadly, in the early 1900s, an invasive fungal blight swept through Appalachia, killing almost all of them. While the fungus blistered the bark and weakened the trunks, the roots remained strong. This means that there are still a few chestnuts in the park, but they rarely if ever grow to be higher than shrubs before the blight cuts them down again. As you hike through the forest here in Shenandoah, think about how different this place would be if these amazing trees still towered over the forest floor. Even in death, the chestnut gives to Stony Man's forest as the ongoing changes eventually create a rich and fertile soil to nourish future life.
When the chestnuts died, the oaks took over as the dominant trees in much of Shenandoah. An oak forest supports an amazing diversity of life. The acorns will feed many of Shenandoah's animals-squirrels, chipmunks, bear, deer, turkey, ruffed grouse, songbirds, and countless insects. Intermixed are well over 1,000 different kinds of trees, shrubs and smaller plants that now live and grow in Shenandoah's forest! In the summer months, before the smaller plants die back for the winter, at least 32 different species of plants grow within 10 feet of the place where you stand! How many can you count?