Trail 2 - The O'Brien Trail
On May 30, 2007 trails #2 and #3 were re-named and
dedicated to former staff member Dr. Aly O'Brien, as part of the
Garden's Salute To Our Builders 30th anniversary
celebrations.
This far more open trail eventually takes you to the lookout. It
runs through the site of a 1961 fire that destroyed the boreal
spruce forest. Today the prevalent trees are deciduous species like
dogberry (mountain ash, Sorbus spp.), pin 
cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica), northern
wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides) and alder (Alnus
crispa). It is a bright, warm sunny walk and the increased
light has resulted in dense shrub vegetation and excellent crops of
berries including northern wild raisin, mountain holly
(Nemopanthus mucronata), squashberry (Viburnum
edule), blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) and
northeastern rose.
Trail 3 - The O'Brien Trail
The rocky outcrop grants a magnificent view of Oxen Pond. The
vegetation around the lookout is known to Newfoundlanders as
barrens. It is an acidic heathland of low blueberry, crowberry
(Empetrum sp.), Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum)
and bog laurel. Caribou moss covers the ground with a creamy white
hue. White-throated sparrows seem to sit on every shrub singing
their patriotic "O sweet Canada, Canada, Canada" refrain. Heading
west from the lookout you walk through an 
ankle-high landscape of lichen, juniper and blueberry.
Windswept and cold on a poor day but a place to saunter and bide
some time on warm, still sunny days, it really is a piece of
paradise. Larches and kalmias are scattered throughout with the
native lady slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule) on the
leeward side. Soon the trail descends through birch and larch to
the boreal forest below. This may be the best area to see birds.
Siskins chatter while nuthatches defy gravity as they skip along
the undersides of branches. Wet flushes spanned by boardwalks are
festooned with ferns and the constant trickle of streams engenders
a feeling of perfect solitude.
Trail 4 - The Owens Trail
On May 30, 2007 trail #4 was re-named and dedicated to
former staff member Rick Owens, as part of the
Garden's Salute To Our Builders 30th anniversary
celebrations.
This trail runs through mature boreal forest, skirts Oxen Pond, and
surprises you with an absolutely impeccable artificial pond that
was built in 1985. Boardwalks take you through bog areas where
northeastern rose, purple-stemmed aster (Aster puniceus),
black-girdled bulrush and squashberry abound. Close to the pond
there are clumps of sheep laurel, rhodora, Labrador tea and
meadowsweet. The log piles, brush piles and rock piles are not the
result of lazy maintenance but are an integral part of the
butterfly management program that provides shelter for
overwintering adults.
