Anders Run Natural Area
The Anders Run Natural area is only 96 acres, but it contains many old-growth white pines, some over 4 feet DBH. (Note: the term "diameter at breast height" or DBH is used by foresters to define tree size, along with height. DBH is the tree diameter measured about four feet off the ground.) Like other accessible timber stands in the upper Allegheny River watershed, the original forest cover was logged sometime in the first two decades of the 1800s. Growth ring counts of wind-thrown trees indicated an age between 200 and 225 years. There is a walking trail system almost two miles long through the area. There is a native trout stream and several fine stands of wildlfowers. There is an historic residence on the property built in 1841, known as the "Little Stone House."
Access Details
Near Warren, take US Rt 6 west to US Rt. 62, exit heading south on 62. Take first hard surfaced road right. Sign says: Buckaloons Recreation Area. Follow road west for about 1 mile, cross Brokenstraw Creek and turn left (south) on Dunns Eddy Road. After about 1 mile you will see a sign and a small parking area on the left.
Heart's Content Scenic Area, Allegheny National Forest
This 120-acre area was begun by a 20-acre old-growth donation to the Forest Service by the lumber company that owned in the early 1920s. The remainder was purchased in small lots to add to the original parcel. Hearts Content is a National Natural Landmark. An excellent nature trail leads you through a stand of towering white pines about 400 years old and hemlock some 50 years younger. There are gnarly old beech snags amid a carpet of ferns. The ferns themselves are an indicator of a major problem in this forest.
The ferns are almost the only plants not eaten by the over-abundant deer. Deer browsing in the past has removed virtually all of the understory shrubs and tree seedlings. It is exciting for visitors who come here regularly to note that this is changing, in part because of installation of protective fencing to keep the deer out. Now saplings as much as five feet tall can be seen scattered through the understory, a condition that wasn't possible in the past several decades.
The forest is changing, in spite of all diligence on the part of humans. Disease plays a large role in these changes. Beech bark scale is killing most of the large beech trees. It can be seen on the big beech trees as tiny white spots scattered over the smooth light gray bark. Smaller beech trees continue to sprout from the spreading roots of the dying larger trees, but they rarely grow to maturity. This is a problem, since the beech saplings come to dominate many areas of the forest floor and crowd out other trees that would grow more successfully. Beech saplings can be spotted easily in the winter because they retain their papery tan leaves.
Go south from Warren on US Rt 6 to Sheffield. Take PA Rt 948 south and turn right in town on Rt2002 (High St which quickly becomes Austin Hill Rd). After a few hundred feet there is a fork in the road. You need to take the left fork. Follow this paved road almost straight due west for about 11 miles. You will see a large sign that says “Heart’s Content Scenic Area” on the north (right-hand) side of the road. A different approach is to take US 62 south from US 6 about 5 miles west of Warren, down the east bank of the Allegheny River. After less than 2 miles, turn east on PA Rt 405 (Grunderville, Road) which quickly becomes Lenhart Rd., eventually bearing right (south) on Rt 3005, reaching Heart’s Content after 6-7 miles.
Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas
The Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas comprise 4,131 acres of "virgin" hemlock-beech forest on the Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania. The areas are actually two tracts: the Tionesta Scenic Area - 2,018 acres (northern portion); and the Tionesta Research Natural Area - 2,113 acres (southern portion).
The Tionesta areas were once part of a colonial grant to the Holland Land Company that was later held by small tanneries in Sheffield, Pennsylvania, as a reserve for hemlock tanbark. In 1936 the federal government purchased lands now included in the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas from the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company. On July 31, 1940 the Chief of the Forest Service designated the Tionesta Scenic Area and the Tionesta Natural Research Area to preserve this large remnant of uncut hemlock-beech forest. In 1973 the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas were added to the National Registry of Natural Landmarks as the "largest virgin forest in the hemlock-white pine/northern hardwoods forest region of North America."
Although the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas contain large hemlock and beech trees that are more than 300 years old, some changes have affected the vegetation that you see today. For example, at least 3 tornados have blown over substantial numbers of trees in 1808, 1872, and most recently in 1985 when about 1,000 acres were blown over.
A long-term over abundance of white-tailed deer has substantially reduced the diversity and abundance of understory shrubs, trees, and wildflowers. Insect and disease outbreaks such as the chestnut blight, elm spanworm and the beech bark disease complex have increased the mortality of overstory trees. The result is a forest that is similar to the forest that once covered much of the Allegheny Plateau but also different in many ways due to the many types of disturbances.
Follow US Rt 6 east from Warren to Sheffield and on east to near Ludlow. Just before Ludlow is a sign for FR 133. Turn right (south) and follow it about 4.5 miles to FR 148. Turn right (west). You will be in the Scenic Area for the next 2.5 miles. Just to the south of this area is the Research Area. FR 148 can also be reached by traveling south from Sheffield about 6 miles. Turn left (east) on FR 148, on which you will reach the Scenic Area after about 2 miles.
Cook Forest State Park Old Growth Forests
There are four old growth forest areas within this National Natural Landmark: Forest Cathedral Natural Area, Seneca Natural Area, Swamp Area, and the Cook Trail Area. The Swamp Area consists mainly of ancient red and white oaks, red maples, and black cherry; some of which surpass 280 years of age. An impressive stand of Eastern white pine, Eastern hemlock, and American beech also occurs here. The Forest Cathedral, Seneca, and Cook Trail areas consist mainly of Eastern white pine, Eastern hemlock, and American beech. Many white pine and hemlock in these areas approach 350 years old. These constitute a significant relic of the forest type that once covered northern Pennsylvania.
Current science suggests these existing old growth areas began growth following a large forest fire that burned through the park in 1644. Some specimens standing today survived that fire and approach 450 years of age. American chestnut snags can be observed in these areas still standing, 80 years after the chestnut blight swept through the area. Please refer to the park map for the location of these areas.
From the east take Exit 78 off I-80 at Brookville, north on PA Rt. 36, directly to the park in Cooksburg or from the west from Exit 64 take US 322 thru Clarion to PA Rt. 66 north to the tiny town of Leeper, turning right (southeast) 7 miles on PA Rt. 36 to Cooksburg. Turn onto the River Road in Cooksburg adjacent to the Rt. 36 bridge over the Clarion River. Pull into the Park Office parking lot on the left to pick up a more detailed map of the park and its old growth forests.
