Berea College Forestry Outreach Center at the Pinnacles

As you walk up the trail at the Pinnacles, you will find many different species of trees. Local artist, bugz fraugg, created hand-carved wooden signs to compliment over ten species of trees in the forest. When you pause and read them, you will learn more about our tree friends than their common and scientific names. These identification signs encourage paying attention to tree’s bark, buds, leaves, seeds and silhouette. Each one also describes how the tree is important to our ecosystem, which includes humans. As they are gifted to us, there is also space for the tree names in the languages of the indigenous people that call this land home, the Cherokee and Shawnee.

bugz also designed a guide to spring ephemeral wildflowers, highlighting the beauty of the fleeting and delicate flowers in the forest.

Click on the accompanying zine to the left to access a PDF version.

"We often don’t think about the sky above us as a part of the ecosystem other than when weather is involved. But it is! People have used stars and other objects in the sky for thousands and thousands of years to help them navigate, tell time, know when to plant crops, and create folklore and art. In fact, many animals use the sky for travelling and telling time!"

The Forestry Outreach Center has partnered with a local astronomer, Jeff Hutton, who writes monthly about interesting things in the night sky. You can read his Skies Over the Pinnacles articles by clicking any of the pictures or the button labeled 'Skies Over the Pinnacles'!

“I grew up in a large, loud, home-schooled family; The 4th child of five. When me and my siblings visit home, late night conversations and good memories always seem to center around the kitchen… Though my Mother didn’t always have access to the best ingredients as she shopped on a budget. This legacy of thriftiness and good, soulful food led me to my passion for foraging.”

Learn about foraging around the Berea college campus through pictures from an experienced student forager in this zine.

Click on the picture or the button for more information!