Distance: 2 miles
Type: Interpretive path
Terrain: Woods and Huron River
Difficulty: Easy
Of the four interpretive trails Long Bark is the longest at 2 miles and the most interesting walk, as a portion of it follows the Huron River. The theme of the trail is forest ecology, and its 15 numbered posts correspond to an interpretive brochure available at the nature center.
Click "Print This Map" for a Longbark interpretive guide:
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Click Map to Enlarge it.
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Trail Guide:
 Pick up Long Bark Trail just outside the nature center. The loop is hiked in a clockwise direction, and you begin in the woods but quickly arrive at a bluff overlooking the Huron River. What lies below you is a maze of oxbows, marshy islets, and winding channels where you can view a variety of bird life through binoculars: blue herons, egrets, kingfishers, even osprey.
The trail follows the edge of the bluff, passing a couple of benches overlooking the river and then a spur to Big Tree Trail within 0.3 mile from the nature center. At this point the trail swings into the mature hardwood forest of beech, maple, and oak.
You pass Tom Short Cut-off 0.75 mile from the nature center, and shortly after that the trail begins looping back. Now the trail is completely out of view of the river, plunging deeper into the forest for most of the second half. You pass junctions to both Sky Come Down Trail, a 1-mile loop, and Big Tree Trail, a 0.75-mile walk, just before returning to the nature center. |
