Toms Run Nature Reserve Virtual Tour

Floodplain

Look across the stream at the bedrock outcrop. Bedrock is everywhere we go, but is usually covered by soil and plants.

Bedrock is in layers of different types. This outcrop is shale bedrock and has been exposed because of the stream flowing by.

Some plants like to grow right on the shale where other plants are not in the way. Pieces of the shale outcrop have fallen away and now are part of the stream bed where they provide homes for aquatic life.

Floodplain stop is 0.1 miles from trailhead.

Stream Crossing

This crossing along a tributary of Toms Run previously contained an old culvert pipe. However, the pipe would often be clogged with woody debris, which caused the stream to flood the trail. So, the pipe was removed and the stream section restored. A simple stepping stone crossing now allows visitors, including hikers, students, researchers and citizen scientists, to experience the stream.

Click the arrow on the right to watch a video of Andy Zadnik, Director of Land Stewardship at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, exploring a tributary of Toms Run at the start of the three-mile trail loop.

To learn more about WPC’s work in watersheds across Pennsylvania as well as the value of downed trees in streams, watch “ A Beautiful Mess ” 

This stop is 0.25 miles from the trailhead. The virtual tour follows the loop trail counter-clockwise from this point.

Forest Composition

Most of Toms Run is covered by a broadleaf deciduous forest. This forest is dominated by trees that are not evergreen and they drop their leaves in the autumn. There are dozens of species of trees, including different kinds of oaks and maples. Some species of trees are found in the bottomland, while others like to grow on the drier higher elevations.

 Click here  to see a list of plants observed at Toms Run Nature Reserve during summer 2020.

Toms Run Nature Reserve has plenty of natural beauty with narrow stream valleys and steep forested slopes. Click the arrow on the right to watch a video of Andy Zadnik, Director of Land Stewardship at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy describe the diversity and distribution of tree species at Toms Run.

Approximately 0.4 miles from trailhead.

Restoration and Management

In the video to the right, Andy Zadnik, Director of Land Stewardship at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, shares insights into the restoration and management efforts on the property. 

Some species of plants and animals have been brought to North America from other places on Earth. These non-native species sometimes cause problems for native plants and animals. Here at Toms Run you will see many standing and fallen dead trees. These white ash trees were killed by the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle mistakenly brought here from Korea.

In 2012, Conservancy staff started noticing large chunks of bark chiseled off of ash trees by woodpeckers. Unfortunately, that was evidence that the trees were already infested with emerald ash borer (the woodpeckers were going after the larvae). Within just a couple years, all of the large ash trees were dead.

This stop is 0.6 miles from the trailhead.

Gas Well Remediation

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy first began protecting this urban forest from development in 1977 and have been working to restore it from years of agriculture, gas and residential development since the mid-2000s.

In the video to the right, Andy Zadnik shares the background around the access road that cuts through the 3-mile trail, as well as restoration efforts underway.

1.2 miles from the trailhead.

Top of the Trail

Near the highest point on the three-mile trail, Andy Zadnik, Director of Land Stewardship at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, points out native species that are found in that portion of the reserve, as the presence of invasive plants, such as multiflora rose and Oriental bittersweet.

Here, where the land is high and flat there have been past human activities. You can see old road ways and soil disturbance. Now plants are slowly re-growing. Some species grow better in poor soil and are considered “pioneers”. Pioneer trees here are: black birch, Scotch pine, sassafras, black gum.

Use the arrow to click right to show a picture of other early colonizers, including the ground cedar and ground pine These are primitive plants that do not have flowers, but reproduce by spores that are found on the small candle-like structures on top of the plants.

1.5 miles from the trailhead.

Allegheny Mound Builders

Toms Run Nature Reserve is one of fewer than 40 Natural Heritage Areas across Allegheny County that supports habitats for rare or unique plants and animals.

Andy Zadnik points out an extensive community of the Allegheny mound builder, a native ant that builds large, above-ground nests that visitors will encounter along the trail at the higher and more exposed sections of the reserve

1.6 miles from trailhead