Time Traveling with Trees with Mass Audubon
Did you know that the scars, shapes, and spacing of trees can reveal past storms, farming, and even long-abandoned roads? At Chesterwood, this guided walk invites participants to learn how trees act as living records of a landscape’s history. Explore how the area has changed over the past 11,000 years, gain skills in identifying common tree species, and learn what to look for when reading the history of a New England forest. The walk follows up to 1.5 miles of gently sloping trails through Chesterwood’s historic gardens, woodlands, and wetlands, offering experiential learning in ecology, dendrology, and environmental history. – Preregistration Required
Self-Directed Learning
Support self-directed learning in environmental history, ecology, climate science, and dendrology with this introduction to forest forensics—a method of reading a landscape’s ecological and cultural history by observing physical clues like tree scars, stone walls, and subtle shifts in topography. Learn how to identify signs of past agriculture, grazing, storms, and fire, and how changes in tree species, bark texture, or branching patterns can reveal when land was last cleared or abandoned. Pairing this video with the Time Traveling with Trees walk at Chesterwood supports curiosity and invites a return to nearby forests with fresh eyes, asking questions, making observations, and piecing together the stories of the land.
What might the land and trees near you reveal about past storms, farming, or forgotten paths? Could a stone wall, tree scar, or forest pattern connect to a larger story of how people and nature shaped the land?
