The Interpretive Trail is a .5-mile loop trail in Fort Flagler State Park that also intersects with the Calwell Trail. There are informational brochures that are sometimes available at the trailhead with information about the guideposts along the loop. This Lock-n-Lock container is located on the south side of the Interpretive Trail.
The following is an abbreviated version of the information that is printed on the Interpretive Trail Guide if you would like to follow the markers along the trail:
1. Conservation vs. Preservation
The goal of both conservation and preservation is to protect the earth’s natural resources, though they differ in how and to what degree.
2. Forest Recovery
Years ago, a home stood on this site. Today, not a single cedar fence-post or old fruit tree remains. Trampling on this site has subsided, and the forest has reclaimed the area.
3. Microclimate
As the forest grows in height and density, sunlight is shut off from the growth below. The impact of rainfall is altered as it flows down the tree trunks or drops from towering tree tops. Sea breezes are reduced as much as 80% by the thick overstory. All of this creates a unique microclimate.
4. Native Shrubs
If you look around, you will find that one shrub dominates most of the forest: Salal. It is a berry-producing shrub native to North America and found all over the Pacific Northwest.
5. Death of a Tree
The death of a tree will provide for the development of other life in the forest. In the decaying process of this snag, insects will eat pathways through the bark, and then woodpeckers will penetrate the bark in search of those insects.
6. Old Growth Firs
Not very long ago, ancient forests blanketed nearly all of the Pacific Northwest. Abundant rain and mild winters created the perfect environment for trees such as Douglas Fir and Cedar to grow very large and very old.
7. Adapt to Survive
Beneath the canopy, smaller plants must adapt to survive. In the case of the crooked tree in front of you, it started its life growing sideways, but adapted by growing towards the break in the trees, where it can get the photosynthetic energy it needs.
8. Nurse Log
A variety of mosses, fungi, green algae, bacteria and other organisms combined forces to reduce the fallen logs that once stood here into usable organic material. The log that once stood here now provides a fertile bed for this tree to grow on.
9. Sit and Enjoy
Sit awhile and think about the forest community around you. A supply of sunlight has produced red alder, grand fir, and western red cedar trees as well as ocean spray, salmonberry, and huckleberry bushes.
10. Marriage Tree
These two trees share a common trunk. This phenomenon is known as inosculation and generally, but not always, occurs between trees of the same species. It can occur in many different fashions, including trunks, branches, or any other place where trees touch and graft together.
11. Persistence of a Species
With ample sunlight, water, air, and nutrients, it takes more than a fall to keep this willow down. When the tree fell, the limbs grew toward the sun until they were of tree-sized stature with limbs of their own.
12. Did You Notice?
The ecology of the forest supports a continuing recycling of nutrients, using every leaf and every bit of natural litter to stimulate new growth, and using every available nook for a home.
13. Lone Madrona
Madrona trees have leathery evergreen leaves, red bark peeling from a tan trunk, whitish flowers and bright clusters of reddish-orange berries. The leaves fall and the bark peels throughout the year, providing its soil with rich nutrients. Notice all of the bends and twisting branches in the unique growing style of the Madrona tree.
Fort Flagler Park Hours
Summer: 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Winter: 8 a.m. to dusk