The trail passes here through a very young forest.
This part of the forest is dominated by red maples with a diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) of less than 6 inches. These trees are probably all less than 50 years old, estimated based on site photos from the 1970’s that show the site as a mowed field. The lack of tree diversity indicates that when the land was allowed to revert back to nature after human use, red maple seeds happened to arrive here in great numbers, germinated quickly, and got a head start in growth to dominate the site.
Red maple is a common, widely distributed tree tolerant of a substantial range of soil conditions, growing in habitats as diverse as sand dunes and swamps.