Species in Bridle Trails State Park

The park is an excellent example of relatively natural lowland conifer forest. Because logging stopped in 1936, it is fairly mature, with some residual trees about 300 years old. Canopy trees are more than 100 years old in about half the park, and more than 80 years old in the remainder. There are no streams now, but some habitat diversity is provided by several forested wetlands, areas with many hardwood trees, and an open, disturbed area long the transmission line that bisects the park north to south. While bird species diversity is not high in this kind of conifer forest, the park’s older forest does support an impressive diversity of plants and fungi, including some rare species.