Nature

Story and photos by WTGC Member Jeff Tryon In mid-April, Elle Belcheff and I visited the 146-acre Woosamonsa Ridge Preserve, just off Woosamonsa Road in Pennington. The approximately three miles of trails lead through exceptional habitats — a mature hardwood forest of American beech, shagbark hickory, red maple, various oaks, and towering tulip trees (Liriodendron). A series of steep ridges funnel the headwaters of Jacobs Creek through the gorges and the water flows out to th

Story and photos by Jeff Tryon On the morning of April 11, I led a wildflower hike along the trails at Heritage Preserve Park, on the border of Ewing and Hopewell. The long, narrow loop trail begins by going through a former farm field and it continues through young red maple forest, and then a mature beech forest. This preserve has outstanding spring wildflowers, and I’ve been monitoring them for several weeks prior. We had a nice group of 9 people in attendance, including