Old Patterson Field

Pollinators are drawn to the area of the former fields during the spring blooms

The area that is now known as the frazier Discovery Trail earns its name from the rich family history of the area. The Frazier family lived as tenant farmers for the Patterson family, tending their cattle through the summer months after the herd was driven up the mountain to pasture away from the heat of the valley. According to Floyd Frazier, a former resident of the land, the fields of "the prettiest blue grass you've ever seen" were lush, and so the grazing for cattle was abundant.

While areas like Old Patterson Field are now recovering with early successional forest, there are still remnants of the open grazing spaces. Former apple orchards still reside in the area, and the thin canopy allows for the growth of an abundance of wildflowers in the early spring, which in turn support a healthy population of pollinating insects and seed seeking songbirds.