See The Grandfathers At Bays Mountain Park

On the Dolan Branch trail down near the Eastman Recreation Area is a small stand of old-growth trees. Ancient Black oak, red oak, chestnut oak, tulip trees, and a number of other tree species occur there. About twenty years ago a huge black oak appeared that it might fall on the trail area thus endangering hikers. The tree was felled. Bays Mountain Park naturalist Fred Hilton at the time counted annular rings in the bared trunk and determined that the tree was at least 438 years old. If they are comparable in age the remaining trees could be over 450 years old.

The Grandfathers were probably alive when:
➢ The British defeated the Spanish Armada
➢ Jamestown was settled
➢ Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod
➢ Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo
➢ The Wright Brothers flew a motor-driven airplane at Kitty Hawk
➢ World wars I and II were fought

Come visit the grandfathers at Bays Mountain Park. Ask a naturalist for more information.