Cedar Creek Park

We have been going to Cedar Creek Park to walk the Cedar Creek Gorge loop trail every spring to see the snow trilliums, but have never gone back. This year my son wanted to return, so we went there on April 25. We found some really spectacular wildflowers.

We arrived on a gorgeous, sunny weekend, and the parking area was stuffed with people, fishing gear,  bikes, boats, and even horses. The park itself runs along the Youghiogheny River and the Great Allegheny Passage runs through it. All the major long-distance trails have been especially popular lately, and I believe they are best avoided. But the parking lot did not reflect very much on the popularity of the trail we were there to hike.

We set about hiking the trail in a clockwise direction, heading steeply up the ridge for a gradual downhill drop to the creek. On that half of the hike we saw very few people, and all of them were moving in the opposite direction so that they were easy to get past. Most people who were hiking were strolling along the part of the creek by the creek banks that is more or less level, missing the spectacular wildflowers. Even though there were a lot more people, it was easy to get out of the way and keep proper distance in the midst of this epidemic. 

Ostrich fern fronds.

Twinleaf.

Bellwort.

Ostrich fern fronds.

Bloodroot.

Squirrel corn.

Blue phlox.

Mitrewort.

Rue anemone.

Ostrich fern fronds.

Jack-in-the-pulpit.

Early meadow rue, on a plant that produced only seeds and no pollen.

Mitrewort.

Hepatica.

Rue anemone.

Stonecrop.

Ostrich fern fronds.

Early meadow rue, on a plant that produced only pollen and no seeds.

Golden ragwort.

Hepatica and rue anemone.

Wild geranium.

Buttercup.

Blue phlox.

Jack-in-the-pulpit.

Smooth rockcress.

Chickweed.

Mitrewort.

Bellwort.

Jack-in-the-pulpit. The two leaves signifies that this plant is producing seeds and not pollen.

Blue eyed Marys.

Large flowered trillium and wake robin.

Early meadow rue, on a plant that produced only pollen and no seeds.

Wake robin.

Blue eyed Marys.

Two-leaved toothwort.

Chickweed.

Large flowered trillium.

Small flowered buttercup.

Bellwort.

Early meadow rue, on a plant that produced only pollen and no seeds.

Bloodroot.

Two-leaved toothwort.

This was a very crowded trout lily, with two lightning bugs, a bee and a shield bug hanging out on it.

Blue cohosh.

Wild geranium.

False Solomon's seal.

Large flowered trilliums.