Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) | Flora | Coltsfoot

Biked from Meyersdale south to the Big Savage Tunnel. Still no word from the GAP panjandrums on when the tunnel will open. When I arrived at the rest stop a guy in his mid-twenties was just packing up his camping gear. He had spent the night at the rest stop. He wanted to continue south on the GAP and asked if I knew any detours around the tunnel. Actually I do. At Mile Post 23, less than half a mile from the rest stop, a steep road turns off to the right, if you are coming from the tunnel, and drops down to Shirley Hollow Road. This road crosses Laurel Run—a beautiful little babbling brook at this point—and proceeds another 2.2 miles (up 240 vertical feet) to the tiny hamlet of Pleasant Union on Route 160. Truly determined GAPers can take this route to travel from Pittsburgh or points east to Cumberland when the Big Savage Tunnel is closed. (For more on the detour see my Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage: Frostburg to Garrett.) At the intersection of Route 160 and Shirley Hollow Road turn right. After .65 of a mile the road drops down the side of Big Savage Mountain 3.7 miles to the Mason-Dixon Line (1,282 vertical feet) at the village of Wellersburg. The famous surveyors Mason and Dixon camped near here in June of 1766, the furthest point west they surveyed that year. They would return the next year and continue the survey of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border westward.

In Maryland the road, now Maryland Route 47, continues another 1.7 miles to Barrelville, on Route 36, the Mount Savage Road, with a drop of another 200 vertical feet. Turn right here and proceed .6 of a mile to Woodcock Hollow Road. It’s another 1.6 of a mile up the road, with a vertical altitude gain of 303 feet, to the GAP at the Woodcock Hollow Road Crossing. From here you can proceed on the GAP to either Frostburg or Cumberland. Doing this trip in reverse, with the 5.6-mile climb up Big Savage Mountain from Barrelville to the Shirley Hollow Road cutoff, with a vertical altitude gain of 1516 feet, is certainly doable on electric bikes (I did it), but it would test the endurance of Olympian athletes on regular bikes. If you are traveling south and are hell-bent on getting to Cumberland as fast as possible this detour is 3.85 miles shorter than the GAP between the same two points (Shirley Hollow Road cutoff and the Woodcock Hollow Crossroads), eliminating as it does the big loop around Frostburg, You can also make excellent time flying down off Big Savage Mountain, your speed limited only by how fast you dare to go.

I told the young man it was possible to this but that I was not necessarily recommending that he try. This is fairly easy ride on electric bikes but the climb from Laurel Run up to Route 160 might be difficult for someone on a regular bike. Also, I did not know the current condition of Shirley Hollow Road, which is unpaved. It might still be muddy and difficult to navigate. The guy said he was going to try it, however. I hope he got through.

I walked up upstream on Laurel Run, the stream the GAP crosses just north of the tunnel. I was looking for golden saxifrage, blood root, and various trilliums, all among the first plants to appear in the Spring. I found nothing in bloom. Jack-in-the-Pulpits also occur here, although not of course until the end of spring and the beginning of Summer.

Laurel Run

I rode back towards Meyersdale and was startled to see just before the Continental Divide several clumps of coltsfoot. I had scanned the right-of-way of the GAP very carefully riding south and they were not here when I passed by three hours earlier.

Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot

These are the first flowers I have seen in bloom the GAP this year. Riding on I saw numerous clumps of coltsfoot the whole way to Meyersdale. None had been in bloom that morning. They had appeared in the space of three hours.

Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail (GAP) | Spring Flora and Fauna

Biked from Meyersdale westward on the GAP to Rockwood and then rode back to Meyersdale and continued south to Big Savage Tunnel. Still no word from the GAP panjandrums on when the tunnel will be opened for the year. Anyhow, the trail is totally snow and ice-free from the Big Savage Tunnel to Rockwood. Saw the first robin of the year back on March 1—oddly enough the same date I saw the first robin last year—and have been seeing more and more of them every day. For my love affair with robins see Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage: Frostburg to Garrett.

Also saw half a dozen wedges of Canadian geese winging it north for the season. A few took a break on a frozen pond just north the Sand Patch Crossroads.

Canadian Honkers

I also stopped to collect bark from the yellow birch south of Sand Patch. I got a whole garbage bag full. There is nothing better for starting campfires.

Yellow Birch

Not much vegetation yet, but I did see the young leaves of dandelion

Dandelions

Also the early leaves of ox-eyed daisies. 

 Early leaves of Ox-Eyed Daisies

Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail | Early Flora

Spring is eighteen days away. Three days ago this section of the GAP south of Meyersdale was covered with snow. Now the verges of trail are tinged with green. 

Some green vegetation has already appeared:

Young leaves of dame’s rocket

Mature Dame’s Rocket. 05.01.2025

Mature Dame’s Rocket. 05.01.2025

Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail (GAP) | Flora | Bee Balm

Bee balm (Monarda didyma) is a native North American medicinal and aromatic herb belonging to the Lamiaceae (mint) family. This perennial plant, which typically grows in colonies, is indigenous to eastern North America, where it naturally occurs in bottomlands, thickets, moist woodlands, and along stream banks and is particularly well-suited to the riparian environments found along trails such as the GAP. The name has a dual meaning. The crushed leaves were traditionally applied as a balm to bee stings and minor skin irritations to soothe pain and reduce infections, and the flowers themselves are also highly attractive to bees and other pollinators.

The plant is also known as Oswego tea. The Oswego Native Americans around the Oswego River in upstate New York used an infusion of the flower and leaves to treat a variety of ailments, including coughs and colds, fever, abdominal pains, and flatulence, and in a poultice to treat sore eyes. They also used it in cooking to flavor game, especially birds, and drank infusions of the leaves as a beverage. Early European settlers learned this latter usage from them and after the Boston Tea Party, when imported tea was boycotted, adopted it as a local substitute, calling it “Oswego tea” (please keep in mind that the only true tea is made from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis). Bee balm is also known as bergamot, but it should not be confused with another plant known as wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), which has lavender-colored flowers instead of the distinctive scarlet flowers of Monarda didyma. 

Nor should bee balm, Oswego tea, or bergamot be confused with the bergamot citrus tree, a native of southern Italy. An essential oil from the peel of the fruit of the bergamot orange tree is used as a flavoring in the famous Earl Grey tea blend. The taste of bee balm has an almost uncanny similarity to the taste of the bergamot orange, and thus the native American plant also became known as bergamot. The dried leaves of bee balm mixed with loose black tea will produce a brew that can be differentiated from Earl Grey tea only by hard-core tea cognoscenti. Infusions and tinctures of bee balm alone are used to treat indigestion and nausea, intestinal cramps, and diarrhea. Bee balm also serves as a nervine tonic and relaxant, exerting a calming effect on the nervous system without causing excessive sedation. The plant also has great aesthetic value, with its lovely scarlet flowers brilliantly festooning the edges of the GAP. 

Bee Balm

Bee Balm

Bee Balm

Bee Balm

Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage | Flora | Red Columbine

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), is one of the GAP’s most striking native wildflowers. This perennial herb in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) produces distinctive nodding flowers with red outer petals surrounding yellow centers, from which emerge bright yellow stamens and pistils. The flowers feature backward-elongating tubes called spurs that contain nectar, creating an unmistakable profile that heralds the arrival of spring along both the edges of the GAP and on adjacent hardwood-forested hillsides and steeply sloping ravines.

The timing of red columbine's bloom coincides precisely with the northward spring migration of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, typically beginning in April when these birds arrive from their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. Red columbine provides the first substantial nectar source for these energy-demanding migrants. Notably, the nectar of red-flowered columbines contains twice the sugar content of other North American columbine species, along with necessary amino acids.

Native Americans, specifically the Meskwaki people, added columbine seeds to smoking blends, and other tribes used the crushed seeds as a perfume and in love charms. Native Americans also used the seeds, roots, flowers, and leaves for various medicinal purposes, including kidney and urinary ailments, and stomach aches. European colonists used the plant for gallbladder disorders and relief of general stomach and intestinal problems. 

The entire plant does contain various toxic compounds, and the borderline between medicine and poison is difficult to define—it has been known to poison rabbits—and most modern herbalists seem to shy away from it, since safer alternatives are available.  Also, it usually does not occur in great quantities, making it best enjoyed for the aesthetic qualities of its gorgeous flowers.  

Red Columbine

Red Columbine

Red Columbine

Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny (GAP) Bike Trail | Flora | Black-eyed and Brown-eyed Susans

Two Susans occur along the GAP:

 Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

 Botanical Classification

- Scientific name: Rudbeckia hirta

• Family: Asteraceae (Aster/Sunflower family)

- Life cycle: Biennial or short-lived perennial (sometimes behaves as annual)

 Physical Characteristics

Size:

- Height: 2-4 feet (60-120 cm)

- Spread: 1-2 feet (30-60 cm)

Flowers:

- Size: Large—2.5-4 inches across (6-10 cm)

- Ray petals: Yellow, golden-yellow to orange (8-21 rays)

- Center disk: Dark brown to black, dome-shaped and prominent

- Bloom time: June to October (late summer through fall)

- Fewer but larger flowers per plant

Leaves:

- Basal leaves: 10-18 cm long, mostly unlobed

- Larger leaves overall (3-7 inches long)

- Covered in coarse, stiff hairs giving rough texture

- "Hirta" means "hairy" in Latin—referring to the bristly trichomes

Stems:

- Stout, branching, hairy stems

- Usually over 8 inches long

 Habitat & Distribution

- Native to eastern and central North America

- Found in all 48 contiguous states and all 10 Canadian provinces

- Grows in prairies, meadows, roadsides, disturbed areas

- Tolerates: Heat, drought, poor soil, wide pH range

• State flower of Maryland

 Black-eyed Susan

 Black-eyed Susan

 Black-eyed Susan

 Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

 Botanical Classification

- Scientific name: Rudbeckia triloba

- Family: Asteraceae (Aster/Sunflower family)

- Common names: Brown-eyed Susan, three-lobed coneflower, thin-leaved coneflower, branched coneflower

- Life cycle: Biennial or short-lived perennial

 Physical Characteristics

Size:

- Height: Taller—2-5 feet (can reach up to 5 feet

- Spread: 1-1.5 feet (narrower than black-eyed

- Bushy, open, branched appearance

Flowers:

- Size: Smaller—1-2 inches across (about 1/3 the size of black-eyed)

- Ray petals: Deep golden yellow, 6-13 shorter, wider rays

- Center disk: Dark purple-brown to jet-black, button-shaped, flattened cone (slightly lighter than black-eyed)

- Bloom time: Later season—late summer through fall (July-October), until hard frost

- More numerous flowers covering the entire plan

- Longer blooming period

Leaves:

- Distinctive three-lobed basal leaves (hence "triloba")

- Upper leaves: Smaller, lance-shaped, often unlobed

- Thinner, more delicate leaves than black-eyed

- 2-4 inches long, ½-2 inches wide

- Covered in bristly hairs but less coarse than black-eye

Stems:

- Many-branched stems creating masses of flowers

- Bristly hairy, often reddish-green

- "Country cousin" appearance—more sprawling

 Habitat & Distribution

- Native to eastern and central United States (New York to Florida, west to Minnesota, Utah, Texas)

- Prairies, woodland borders, thickets, rocky slopes, roadsides

- Prefers moist soil but adaptable

How to Tell Them Apart in the Field

 Quick Visual Cues:

1. Flower size is the giveaway

   - If the bloom is as big as your palm → Black-eyed Susan

   - If the bloom is 1/3 that size → Brown-eyed Susan

2. Look at the leaves

   - Large, hairy, mostly unlobed → Black-eyed Susan

   - Three-lobed basal leaves, thinner overall → Brown-eyed Susan

3. Count the flowers

   - A few big, bold flowers → Black-eyed Susan

   - Plant covered in masses of smaller flowers → Brown-eyed Susan

4. Growth habit

   - Sturdy, upright, well-behaved → Black-eyed Susan

   - Bushy, branching, sprawling → Brown-eyed Susan

Ecological & Garden Value

Both species are outstanding for:

- Naturalized plantings and meadows

- Pollinator gardens

- Native plant gardens

- Cottage gardens (especially brown-eyed)

- Roadsides and disturbed areas

- Prairie restoration

- Butterfly gardens

- Cut flower gardens

Historical/Medical Note: Native Americans used Rudbeckia hirta medicinally, though the plant is toxic to cats. Both species have been used in folk medicine.

 Along the GAP

Given that the Great Allegheny Passage runs through prime habitat for both species—disturbed roadsides, woodland edges, open meadows, old fields—you'll encounter both along your journey. 

Look for:

- Black-eyed Susan (R. hirta) in sunnier, more open areas with those big, bold 3-4 inch flowers

- Brown-eyed Susan (R. triloba) in slightly shadier woodland borders and thickets, creating clouds of smaller blooms in late summer

Both are quintessential late-summer sights along the GAP—cheerful yellow beacons that brighten the landscape just as other wildflowers are fading into autumn.

 Brown-eyed Susan

Brown-eyed Susan

Brown-eyed Susan

Brown-eyed Susan