Gold Trail
The Gold trail winds 2.4 km through lowland forest and hilly meadow. The level of difficulty is 2. The trail has woodlands providing good shade for walking and has good opportunities for wildlife viewing. On this trail you can see raptors (hawks) nests and wood duck boxes. See a beaver dam at the 'Beaver Pond'.
This trail not only runs through the eastern portion of the Sugar Bush, but it travels through fallow field and meadow making this a good place to find a wide variety of wildlife. Birds and butterflies abound and the amount of wildflowers is excellent. There are many things to see and hear. The skies the limit. An expansive beaver pond lies off to the south and is alive with the singing of many frogs on early spring evenings.
This trail is excellent for owling. See the Great Horned Owl and Eastern Screech Owl primarily. If you're lucky, you may even catch a glimpse of a Long-eared Owl or migrant Saw-whet Owl. When owling, be sure to bring a flashlight. Owls are drawn to recorded calls, so if you're able find a recording (or ask us for ours) you may have better luck finding Hullett's nocturnal hunters!
Take a winter hike through this area and admire the strength of the tall trees in this area. Identify ash, aspen, basswood, beech, birch, cherry, hemlock, and maple by their trunk bark (check out the hemlock below). It can be challenging but it is ultimately rewarding when you managed a correct identification. Tree identification is difficult at times, especially in the winter, but key field marks can point you to your specimen. Keep at it and you'll get it! There's plenty of trees here to practice on! The Gold Trail is a trail for wildlife viewing, in all seasons and for all reasons. Come and emBARK on an adventure today!
