Description: Take an easy loop hike on the Maple Trail to taste the first fruits of summer.  We’ll compare and contrast thimble berries with salmon berries, comment on the relative seasonality of snowberries, and search for a rare denizen of Forest Park: the devil’s club!  Shrubs are one of the important components of healthy forest ecosystems, and we’ll examine some of the roles they play in the symphony of Forest Park.  This will be an easy walk at a slow pace with stops to feel the texture of leaves and test the spininess of prickles.  This hike will be appropriate for people of all ages, as long as they are not in a hurry.  

Cost: $15 ($10 for members of The Forest Park Conservancy)

Pre-registration is required for all participants. Enrollment will be limited to 12 participants, and space filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Click here to sign up for this and other Discovery hikes.

Hike leader biography:  Greg de Nevers is an itinerant botanist and environmental educator.  He has led natural history tours and botanical expeditions to various points of the globe, including the Salmon River, Grand Canyon, California Channel Islands and Mount St. Helens.  He specializes in “foisting false botany on the unwary,” and has been known to dash off trail to follow a burrowing owl.  He would rather turn rocks for salamanders and snail eating beetles than watch movies.