We like loop trails and found one called the “Buck Trail” that was located in a nearby park that we haven’t been to for several years. This 3.4 mile loop through Nottingham Park (Nottingham PA) checked all the boxes (loop trail, over 2 miles, close by) so we drove to the park and started our quest. We were not very far along our journey when we quickly realized that the trails and the landscape were not at all like what we remembered. The forest had been heavily logged on both sides of the “trail”. The trees that were still standing looked a lot like the aftermath of a forest fire. The trail was more of a road that had obviously been used to remove the trees. We completed our hike but just couldn’t believe that our memory of this park had been so “wrong”.
When we got home we hopped on the web to figure out what we had just seen. It turns out our memory wasn’t so bad after all. The last time we were there the Pine Barrens, that were very unique for this area, were thriving. We learned that around 2017 an Infestation of the Southern Pine Beetle in these pitch pines had grown so serious that the only option was to cut down the trees and remove them. Now that they are cleared it may take 20 years before the pitch pine species regenerate. This will most likely require a controlled burn to start the reseeding. I can’t recommend this hike for the view, but it will leave an impression on the possible destructiveness of a beetle that is about a tenth of an inch long.
