Wildflower Hike in Stranahan Town Forest

Sun May 03 2026 Wildflower Hike in Stranahan Town Forest by Phyllis Rubenstein
On Sunday, May 3, 2026, 12 of us hiked about 3 miles in the Virginia Stranahan Town Forest in Marshfield, some of us stopping to identify spring ephemerals (wild flowers), including red trillium, yellow trout lily, Dutchmen’s breeches, Carolina spring beauty, cut-leaf toothwort, two-leaved toothwort, violets, marsh marigold, a native honeysuckle shrub. Most of the flowers were just starting to flower or were budding. We also saw a patch of daffodils (sure sign that a homestead had been nearby), ferns, mosses, deer in a field, old stone walls and stone cellars, a beaver pond, a waterfall and the site of an old grist mill. There are many trails in the 600 acre forest. We took Thompson Road (an old woods road) to the Old Grist Mill Road to Short Cut to Ravine Trail, back to Thompson Road. We had one brook crossing that proved to be a bit challenging, but we all made it with dry feet. The weather was cool, breezy, and mostly overcast. I encouraged hikers to return in a week to see how the wildflowers were progressing!