Hike event at Thomas Darling Preserve

With rare plants, ancient waters and a landscape laid down by glaciers, Thomas Darling Preserve, atop Pocono Plateau outside Blakeslee, offers 2,500 acres of spruce forest and an array of glacial wetlands perfect for a wintry hike.

From 1 to 2:30 p.m. Jan. 28, Carol Hillestad will guide a moderate, 2.2-mile hike, through the preserve at Two-Mile Run, in a section managed by The Nature Conservancy. Brodhead Watershed Association sponsors the grant-funded free event.

A long boardwalk will lead hikers through the heart of the marsh decorated in sphagnum moss, winterberry, witch hazel, blueberry bushes and groves of slim white birches. The marsh is ringed by one of Pennsylvania's largest forests of native black spruce.

Back on "solid" but soggy land, animal paths crisscross the boggy ground. Hikers might also see the natives: black bears, river otters, snowshoe hares and a profusion of nesting and migratory birds.

Hikers should meet at the preserve trailhead. The hike is free, but registration is required.

For more information, call 570-839-1120 or 570-629-2727, email info@brodheadwatershed.org or visit brodheadwatershed.org/gopoconos.