Bear Path

A stroll through the Bear Woods reveals a woodland trail along an old ravine that leads out to Lake Michigan. The flora found here include wildflowers, lush ferns, stately oaks, and other native tree species. Turkey and deer frequent this area but watch out, this woods also has bears! As you walk the path you will find Goldilocks’s cabin with chainsaw sculptures of the three bears and Goldilocks herself. These sculptures, along with other chainsaw pieces now found throughout the gardens, were done by local artist Luke Worth at Meadowlark Chainsaw Carving LLC., out of Sheboygan Falls, WI. 

Ephemeral Wildflowers

This woodland is predominantly deciduous, with many of its old-growth tree species never being logged due to its proximity to Lake Michigan and its position along the ravine. Because of this habitat's makeup, small ephemeral wildflower plant species can thrive here.

Spring Beauties

Ephemeral wildflower varieties can only grow in deciduous forests such as this, where the trees above them lose their leaves each autumn. Then in spring, the ephemeral plants race to emerge from the understory, quickly flower and produce seeds, all before the trees above shade them out as they grow in their new leaves. Because their opportunity to catch some rays only lasts a few weeks, many of these species produce dazzling floral displays to advertise to their pollinating clientele. Many of our springtime school group visitors get the chance to participate in a Woodland Ephemeral Wildflower scavenger hunt - a fan-favorite activity during the past few spring seasons! 

A new venture happening in this woodland is fungi farming. One of our garden staff members, Laura Behr, started this project in early April 2025 by inoculating cut logs with plugs filled with mushroom spores. Two types of edible fungi were planted, Nameko and PoHu oyster mushrooms. These types of fungi grow well on dead and rotting wood, so we used some box elder, beech and willow logs that had just been cut. These logs were drilled and then filled with fungi plugs, which were pounded in to fit snugly. Wax was coated over each plugged hole to ensure the young fungal spores were protected from the lakeside elements, giving them time to spread throughout the logs. Over the next two years, we will hopefully see some mushrooms growing from our stacks of logs along the Bear Path.