Cranberry Glades Botantical Area

Hubby and I had a long weekend away in West Virginia and Shenandoah. Hubby's main reason for the trip was to meet with a Caving Club and go spelunking. In case you do not know spelunking is a word for cave explorers. So, I tagged along for the weekend and did the driving. I am not into exploring caves, dark closed in places give me a fright. I did some research on the area and found out that the Cranberry Glades is a good place for birding. After dropping hubby off , I took out my GPS and drove the 30 minutes or so to see the Cranberry Glades. My first stop was the very nice visitors center. They also had a nice shop, I picked up a butterfly guide book, tee shirt, a hat pin and a new hummingbird feeder. I do most of my shopping when hubby is not around. After checking out the many hummingbirds on the visitors centers  feeders and the butterflies on the plants, I drove the short distance to the actual Botanical Area.

The Botanical Area had a half mile trail that was all boardwalk.

The 750 acre glades are a grouping of peat bogs similar to some Canadian bogs. The land is highly acidic and support plants that are normally found at higher latitudes some are the pitcher plant and the cranberries and sundew. The weather is cool and wet comparable to New England. So glad, it was a beautiful day when I was there. The higher mountains surrounding the Glades form a bowl and draining the cool air downhill to the glades. The plants some rare seem to thrive in these conditions.



I used my new guide book to id this Great Spangled Fritallary

I was told at the visitor center that I timed my visit perfectly for the grass pink orchids that were in bloom. The Cranberry Glades are also known for the insect eating plants, one of which I saw was the Purple Pitcher Plant. The wildflowers were all just gorgeous! I heard a lot of birds in bushes along the walkway. Of course they just teased me and just gave me brief glimpses. I read that the Nashville and Mourning Warblers breed in this area. I was also actually hoping to see a black bear, no luck there. I guess that is a good thing I am not sure seeing a bear by myself would be a good thing.

Grass Pink Orchids

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