Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
December 2024 was the 50th anniversary of Cranberry Glades Botanical Area being named a National Natural Landmark, but because it’s difficult to do much of anything at the area in the winter, the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center and U.S. Forest Service staff decided to wait until summer to celebrate the anniversary.
Last Friday, Rosanna Springston led two tours on the Glades boardwalk, sharing the history of the area, as well as her vast knowledge of the many unique flora and fauna that call the Glades home.
The area has been drawing botanical experts and enthusiasts for more than 100 years, but it wasn’t until the late 1930s that there was a push to protect the area.
“In the thirties, this was kind of an almost impossible to get to place, but there was biological interest,” Spring-ston said. “At that time, a movement started to try and get some protection for it. They recognized the uniqueness of the area and didn’t want to lose it.”
Between 1937 and 1949, the original boardwalk was built. It was 230 feet long and was started on the Cow Pasture Trail that rings the Glades.
“At that timeframe, you were actually allowed to go off the end of the boardwalk and explore farther,” Springston said. “Most people wouldn’t – just because of how wet it was. More push from botanical enthusiasts and conservationists was made for more protections.”
The Glades were so unique that it was hard to find a classification for it. At first, it was designated as a natural area, then a scenic area, which didn’t really fit. It was finally decided that botanical area was the best fit for the 750-acre Glades.
That was in 1967, the same time the current boardwalk was constructed. It was built by the Anthony Creek Job Corps.
“They started building sections of the boardwalk and they built them in ten-foot sections and brought them up here,” Springston said. “Some plants from other parts of the glades were moved and put against the boardwalk because they weren’t growing where people could see them. They were things of great interest, such as the bog rosemary.”
Cranberry Glades is the southernmost growth site for many of the plants that inhabit the area. This is due to them being native to northern states and Canada, in tundra-like areas. They were brought to Pocahontas County 10,000 years ago by glaciers, and due to the elevation and mountains protecting the Glades, they were able to thrive.
The copious amount of snow and spring water that feeds into the basin creates a bog that is perfect for plants that require a lot of water.
“We are completely ringed by mountains,” Springston said. “All the drainage comes off into this valley and underneath there’s a layer of clay that acts like a bowl. Then – this varies depending on where you test it – you have several feet of algal ooze which is like this decomposed muck that also holds water.
“Then several feet worth of peat and on top of that you have the sphagnum moss,” she continued. “Right now, I know it looks like you can just walk straight out through there, but the sphagnum moss holds all the water; it hides it. So, when you step out there, you start having water slightly ooze up and depending on where you go, you can start sinking.”
The sphagnum moss can hold 10 times its mass in water, so those who try to venture out into the bog won’t get very far before they start to sink. Springston said it’s possible to sink up to your knees and even your thighs in some places.
Like all aspects of nature, Cranberry Glades has been changing. The area is not getting as much snow as it used to, therefore, it is getting drier. This has led to more woody plants spreading into the bog area, like wild raisin and chokeberries.
“The glades are drying up and these woody plants are able to get a foothold where it was wet, because it’s not as wet now,” Springston explained. “The more woody species we get, the more water they suck up which allows it to be drier. You’ll see the succession slowly taking over the glade.
“Eventually, we might lose it,” she continued. “But nature’s not linear. We could have some parts get dammed. This could flood again and start killing out some of these species that don’t like their feet quite as wet.”
The forest service has taken the stance that it will not intervene, but let nature take its course. The only intervention that is done on the glades is removal of invasive species that are not native to the area.
The Glades is known for several species of plants, including a variety of orchids, cotton grass, skunk cabbage, pitcher plants, sundew and, yes, even cranberries.
“We actually have two species of cranberry,” Springston said. “We have large cranberry and small. They’re a little hard to see this time of year because there is so much vegetation.”
Unlike the commercial cranberries that grow on bushes, the cranberries here are vines that snake through the bog. They may grow differently, but they do taste the same as commercial cranberries.
“Originally, you could walk in and harvest cranberries,” Springston said. “That was a local thing that people would do when it got easier to get up here. When the 230-foot boardwalk went in, they still allowed it, but then new protections and things came through and they quit that.”
Springston explained that in 2011, there was a genetic protection program with the forest service for heritage foods that grow in the forests throughout the country. The program was completed in 2020 and the cranberries at the Glades are a genetic reserve.
“If something ever happens to the cultivated versions, they can come back to the original strains to try and get commercial varieties again,” she said.
The Glades is also known for its two varieties of cotton grass, which, when in bloom, look like big fluffy cotton balls. There is so much of it, the bog transforms into what looks like a cotton field.
One of the first plants to bloom in the Glades is the skunk cabbage which got its name from the odor it emits when crushed.
“Earlier in the spring if you crush one just the least little bit, it smells like [a skunk] that just got hit in the road,” Springston said. “As it ages, it fades just a little bit.”
Skunk cabbage is a favorite snack of black bears and if you are lucky, you might even hear a bear chomping away as you walk along the boardwalk.
“If you hear what sounds like a kid munching on celery in the most obnoxious way possible, that’s a bear and he’s eating skunk cabbage,” Springston said. “This is the time of year, too, you can probably see the bear has been in here, wallowing around.”
On this particular walk, there was evidence of the wallowing, but no obnoxious sounds of chewing.
A favorite of youngsters who take the tour is the carnivorous plants, of which there are two at the Glades.
Sundews are small – the size of a half dollar – but they are mighty eaters. They have a sticky dew that dangles on hairs which entice small bugs, such as ants, to come closer. Once the bugs are on the sundew, they are consumed.
“This one is native versus the pitcher plant,” Springston said. “The pitcher plant is from a bog in Pennsylvania. During the early botanical surveys, Strausbaugh and Core were like, ‘this should be here’ and so they transplanted it from Pennsylvania.
“Neither admit to it,” she continued. “They both point the finger at the other one. We know it was one of them.”
The pitcher plant collects rainwater in its pitcher-shaped mouth and it attracts bugs, snails and other small critters. Once inside the rainwater, an enzyme produced by the plant consumes it.
The walk along the half mile boardwalk is an exploration that is part history lesson and part nature lesson. There is always something new to see and learn when visiting Cranberry Glades.
When nature is allowed to take its course, no one can guess what the area will become in the next 50 years.
