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Trails
Narrative Direction: West from Tobacco Barn Trailhead The eastern end of Timber Ridge trail starts off at the edge of a large meadow near the old tobacco barn. It immediately goes into full canopy forest as it proceeds down a hollow, as shown in the photo below. There is a noticeable amount of stiltgrass present on the trail edges.
The trail soon begins to accelerate its descent into the hollow, passing a nice patch of ferns along the way (see photo below). You also go under a few telephone poles that bring service to a nearby Park house. The trail turns sharply to the left, and you can see a wooden bridge spanning the hollow below.
When you reach the bottom of the hollow you are struck by the height of the hardwood canopy which probably exceeds 80 feet here. The wooden bridge in front of you is one of the largest in the Park. Because of the sensitive nature of the stream ecosystem, all trail users are asked to use this bridge to cross this small stream. The wooden steps are provided for equestrians so they can easily dismount and remount when leading their horses over the wooden bridge. On the other side of the bridge the trail climbs sharply out of the hollow, as shown in the photo below. There is a lot of stiltgrass along the trail here. You will begin to notice something that you do not see on most of the other trails in the northern half of the park: thick undergrowth.
After a couple of minutes of upward trekking, you come to a small unmown meadow that sits at the edge of the hollow you just left. You will notice a sign that says "Private Residence" at the head of a sometimes mown path that ultimately connects with a Park rental house. As you pass through the meadow, you reenter the forest. But here up on high ground, the forest is different from most of the rest of the Park. First, notice that the forest is not mature. The trees are not as tall or fully crowned as on most other trails in the park. And the increased sunlight this has allowed has stimulated much NNI growth, especially stiltgrass and multiflora rose. The trail twists and turns through this shaded but NNI-infiltrated area for several hundred yards. See photo below.
Finally, you see a clearing emerge ahead. The trail exits the forest cover into a mown meadow. To the right is the golf course maintenance yard and buildings. The trail skirts the edge of the meadow, briefly reenters forest and soon terminates at its Pine Grove trailhead.
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