The Pinhook Bog area contains two very different habitats: a rich beech and maple forest on top of a glacial moraine formed about 15,000 years ago, and an acidic bog in a depression in the moraine created when a large piece of ice broke off a melting glacier. Like other bogs that are relics of a glacial past, Pinhook Bog began as a kettle lake in pulverized clay and rock left behind by the glacier. Cut off from ground water, its water gradually became acidic, allowing sphagnum moss to form floating mats that eventually supported pitcher plants, sundew, and ferns. Over time, blueberry and holly shrubs colonized the bog, followed later by larger trees such as tamarack and red maple.

Photo: Duane Hall

Photo: Duane Hall

Photo: Duane Hall

Photo: Duane Hall

Westville, Indiana · USA