Wetland Research - High Point State Park - Atlantic White Cedar Bog

High Point State Park, located in the the Tristate corners of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania has a lot to offer visitors - lakes for swimming and fishing, 50 miles of hiking trails, camp sites and a 360 degree view from the High Point monument.

Tucked away in the 1,500 acre Dryden Kuser Natural Area portion of the park, is an ecological gem, a cedar bog. Perched near the ridge line, 1500+ feet above sea level the bog is crowded with Atlantic White Cedar. This swamp is one of a kind, no other Atlantic White Cedar swamp is found both at this elevation and so far inland elsewhere in the world. White cedar swamps are most commonly found near sea level, hugging the contours of the coastline from Maine south to mid-Florida and westward to Mississippi.

The cedar bog trail, a 1.5 mile loop, is an easy stroll with few elevation changes and is accessible from both the monument and other parking areas. Before setting off, stop by the park rangers office - they offer a useful trail map and a trail guide about the Cedar Bog Trail, with details about its history and the descriptive markers with points of interest. A link to the downloadable trail guide is here.

The guide gives color to the trails 15 markers, describing geography and plants found in the bog that can be easily overlooked. The majority of the trail skirts the periphery of the wetland, but the highlight is the elevated boardwalk, crossing through the heart of the bog. The boardwalk allows the best viewing of the plants and mosses, which would otherwise remain largely out of sight. On both sides of the walkway are White cedars, Hemlocks, and mats of Sphagnum moss covering everything, including fallen trees. Tangled with the trees are hardy, acid loving shrubs including Rhododendron, Blueberry and Hemlock, virtually making travel through the bog, if one were so inclined, almost impossible.

In the distant past, the bog was once a lake, and due to the lack of an appreciable source of surface water, a major contributor of nutrients and organic matter for most wetlands, mosses took hold. Bogs are typically acidic because the dominant plant, Sphagnum moss, releases Hydrogen ions (acidity), and the decomposed moss, peat, also releases organic acids (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993) during decomposition. The acidity in this loop is compounded again because little or no water flows through the bog, the acids are not leached away - making the water progressively more acidic. A quick fact-sheet on bog acidity.

Peat deposition and acidification slowly continues until the open water shrinks from the shores -and the entire depression fills with peat - allowing the recruitment of bog tolerant coniferous and deciduous species. Peat accumulation varies, but accumulates at most, a few millimeters per year. Peat a foot deep may have taken centuries to deposit, and is an important carbon sink.

Bogs high levels of saturation and acidity combined with minimal nutrients allows only a few plants to survive and fewer thrive. The niche plants that are successful often have additional adaptations. Of these adaptations, both the carnivorous plants Pitcher Plant and Sundew are best known, by supplementing their nutritional needs with insects. While these plants are reportedly found here, I didn't see any in the limited time I was there from either the boardwalk or surrounding trail. However I did manage to photograph the following plants, mostly from the boardwalk.