Fern Nook

Points of Interest:

• See old-growth shortleaf pines and white oaks some of which pre-date the American Civil War and a few that predate the United States.
• Enjoy the blooms of red buckeye beneath a canopy of 100 feet tall sweetgum, bitternut hickory, sugar maple, Shumard oak and sycamore.
• Enjoy the scenic North Prong of the Little Black River.

Natural Features:

This site features one of the few true old-growth stands of shortleaf pine and white oak remaining in the Ozarks. Forestry researchers from the University of Missouri Columbia have documented white oak trees over 300 years of age here and shortleaf pines 170 to 200 years of age. These ancient trees occur in high-quality dry to dry-mesic chert, sandstone and dolomite woodlands. A mile of the North Prong of the Little Black River flows through the area and has an outstanding riparian corridor and aquatic habitat conditions. Along the floodplain of the river occur remnant bottomland hardwood stands (mesic to wet-mesic bottomland forests) that support mature (150 years) and massive (many trees over 30 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet off the ground) oaks, maple, sweetgum, sycamore, and hickories. Cerulean warblers, swamp rabbits and hooded warblers (all species of conservation concern) utilize these bottomland forests.