This event is a tradition for people who love the wildflowers and birds of West Virginia!
Come discover why so many “pilgrims” return year after year! And why the “pilgrims” enjoy their friendships with some of the most knowledgeable and fun leaders in this part of the country.
On Thursday afternoon, you can attend special “get-started” programs like Jan’s “Birding Essentials for Everyone” workshop.
Jan and I, along with leaders from the Brooks Bird Club, will be leading the early morning bird walks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.
On Friday and Saturday participants have a choice of a dozen or more day-long field trips to a wide variety of habitats and elevations. Trips range from “get out of the car to look at this amazing plant” to “must have hiking boots and drinking water to go on the wilderness hike”. Both Thursday and Friday end with an interesting program in the evening.
On Friday I will be leading the DOLLY SODS WILDERNESS HIKE: ROHRBAUGH PLAINS / WILDLIFE TRAILS
DRIVING MILES :60 HIKING MILES : 4 .5 Our drive takes us south on Route 32 through Canaan Valley. Approximately 2 miles south of Canaan we turn left onto Laneville Rd. and continue to the Rohrbaugh Plains trailhead on top of the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. The trail is not a loop trail and one vehicle will have to be left at the Wildlife Trail trailhead. The hike begins through a mixed Red Spruce/deciduous woodland where we will be greeted with a variety of bird songs; mostly warblers — Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped, and Magnolia. This trail is rocky at times and eventually enters a mixed hardwood/evergreen forest. Lunch will be at the Rohrbaugh Plains vista looking south through the Red Creek Valley and west toward Rocky Point (Lion’s Head). The vista is one of the best scenic overlooks in West Virginia. The return hike is on the Wildlife Trail, a mostly open trail traveling through several meadows and bordered by deciduous woodlands. There will be opportunities for wildflower and bird identification, however, this tour’s primary focus is the spectacular beauty of Dolly Sods. Hiking shoes/boots are required. Appropriate rain gear is required. There will be restroom facilities available at the Dolly Sods Picnic Area before the hike.
On Friday Jan will be leading the CRANEVILLE SWAMP FIELD TRIP
TOTAL DRIVING MILES: 90 TOTAL WALKING MILES : 3 Travel US Route 219 to Oakland, MD, and follow country roads on the WV/MD border to find the Cranesville Swamp Nature Preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy. At Cranesville Swamp wind, water, mountain geology and temperature have created a beautiful and rare “frost pocket” (low area that collects moisture and cooler temperatures) reminiscent of Canadian environments. Eastern Hemlock, Red Spruce, and American Larch are some of the few trees in the acidic boreal bog. The northern relict wetland complex also supports a wide variety of smaller plants such as Goldthread, Trailing Arbutus, Gay Wings, several sundews, cranberry, several ferns, and many mosses. Nineteen diverse wetland communities surrounding the bog are home to such birds as Blackburnian, Magnolia, and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Alder Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Indigo Bunting, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. We’ll explore the boardwalk trail in the bog of the northern section of the swamp, and then venture off the trail into the seldom-visited fen at the southern part of the swamp. A restroom stop will be made at Oakland and “facilitrees” are available at Cranesville Swamp.
On Saturday I will be leading the NATURAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA WILDFLOWERS FIELD TRIP
Jan will be the birder on this trip.
RATING: 1 TOTAL DRIVING MILES: 28
This trip will go to Olson Fire Tower and then to Fernow Experimental Forest. There
will be plenty of wildflowers and birds to identify. The major emphasis on this trip will
be the folklore and natural history of the plants we find. The edibility, medicinal use,
and poisonous qualities of many plants will be discussed. Restroom facilities will be
available at our lunch stop at Mill Race Park in Parsons.
For additional information and registration: https://wvdnr.gov/programs-publications/wildflower-pilgrimage/
Join us and discover why so many “pilgrims” return year after year!
Bill Beatty Nature 
Bill, I’m planning to attend the Wildflower Pilgrimage this year. For next year’s pilgrimage would you or some other suitable guide be willing to offer a tour focused on mushrooms and other fungi? I would think that other attendees might also be interested.
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Hi Chuck… we’ve thought about that. One problem is that few fungi are out that time of year. On my tours I often point out those we see, but there aren’t many. There may be an evening mushroom program at a Pilgrimage at some future date… that’s been requested also.
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Bill thanks for the response. So, around the Davis and Canaan Valley area, what time of year would fungi be most abundant?
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July through mid-Sept. would be best if the weather cooperates… plenty of rain.
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