Gorley Trail By Luke Glasscock

Purpose The purpose of doing this project is to help people become more familiar with different trees in Kentucky. I chose Gorley Trail because it has a variety of trees and its very scenic. The maps show around Gorley Trail and they also pinpoint a few different kinds of trees and pictures of the trees.

Process People from all over come to visit Marion County, they might be here to tour Maker’s Mark, Limestone Branch Distillery, or even to visit several historical sights, maybe they even want to have a country ham breakfast at Ham Days. But what about people who want to get out of all the rush of Ham Days in Lebanon and get back with nature? We have that too. I decided to create a map of a popular trail in Marion County; called Gorley Trail which wraps all the way around Fagan Branch reservoir. Most people might be a little intimidated to walk down a trail that 3.2 miles long for the first time, so I made a GPS track to put on a map for them. My Mom, brother, and I took the unit to the beginning of the trail, turned it on, cleared all the previous tracks, and took off down the trail. The hike takes about 2 hours, however it took us a little bit longer than that because we like to stop and look at the squirrels and birds flying around, antler sheds, box turtles, fish in the lake, and anything else we see. After hiking all the way around the trail and this being the first time I had used a Garmin I was very nervous about if the track saved or not, or if it was even mapping for that matter At school a high school student, Allie Evans helped me learn how to put the tracks from the Garmin into an online program call ARC GIS Explorer. So far everything had been successful we got the tracks saved on the GPS, marked waypoints for the beginning and end of the track, and even downloaded it to the computer, but then it showed a big line from somewhere in Asia all the way to Fagan Branch. It looked like I had started in China and went to the reservoir, but you never know maybe I’m quite the traveler. After a few trial and error runs of trying to get the line from Asia to Fagan Branch off of the map nothing was working. After this went on for a few days my seventh grade science teacher Mrs. May gave us a suggestion, it was to take the line tool on the computer and draw over the tracks around the trail, and this was the solution so now there wasn’t a line all the way from Asia. Though it may seem my project should be finished now it is not, the next step was to walk back around Gorley Trail with the Garmin and mark waypoints at different types of trees that grow along the trail. So my dad and I walked around and took pictures of a few trees and marked waypoints on the Garmin by pressing a few buttons and adding a title based on what kind of tree it was. After we finished our hike I went to school the next day and we put the waypoints on the computer along with all the pictures, finally my map was complete. Finally when the main part was finished I had to make a brochure, on it I had some background information on all the trees along with pictures and of course the map. After I finished that I e-mailed it to the Lebanon tourism committee for the public eye to view, maybe it will draw people to go and walk the trail or even give people a new knowledge about the kind of trees that grow in Kentucky. Enjoy the hike around Gorley Trail, and don’t forget to bring a camera, never know what you’ll find, a bottle of water, and maybe even a fishing pole.

Map of Gorley Trail Located in the Heart of Kentucky, Gorley Trail is a nearby place that nature lovers and hikers alike can enjoy a nice afternoon, while hiking, biking, and even fishing. The trail offers many views of the lake as you walk around the three mile trail you can also see many species of Kentucky Wildlife. Come and enjoy our deciduous forest!  

Beech Tree · Beech Tree - The scientific name is “Fagus Grand Polia” - the bark is thin and smooth it is a light bluish gray color - the leaves are comparable to teeth because they are ridged - the leaves grow 3 to 5in. and change color in fall - they grow 65 to115ft. tall  

White Pine · White Pine - The scientific name is “Pinus Strobus” - the bark is a grayish and brown color and smooth - the its leaves are needles that grow in small clumps of five - its leaves are 3 to 5 in. long it produces yellow cones - the top of the leaves are green and the bottom is white hence the name white pine.

Tan Oak · Tan Oak - The scientific name is “Notholithocarpus densfilorus” - has brown bark with deep ridges rough to the touch - waxy leaves points around he edge - it produces acorns.

Shag Bark Hickory · Shag Bark Hickory - The scientific name is “Carya Ovata” - has a unique detached looking bark - it produces hickory nuts - it can grow to 100ft. tall.

Ash Tree Ash - The scientific name is “Fraxima Americana” - the bark is brown and ridged - they grow 60 to 70ft. tall - the saw toothed leaf is green on the top and white on the bottom.

White Oak · White Oak - The scientific name is “Quercus Alba” - the bark is ridged and grayish brown - it can grow up to 100ft. Tall - green dark leaves - has small reddish spikes for flowers.

Smooth Hickory · Smooth Hickory - the scientific name is “Carya Glabra” - the bark is smooth a little bit bumpy grayish green bark - oval type leaves they are green - produces a hickory nut. https://www.google.com/search?q=smooth+bark+hickory+tree&biw=1280&bih=718&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=

Tree Information Credits All pictures and maps made by Luke Glasscock (except smooth hickory-credit given on slide) http://www.hermones.org/grade4/ecotattrees.index.html http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/eastern_white_pine.htm http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/tanoak/\ http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/white_oak.htm https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=scientific+name+for+white+oak https://www.google.com/search?q=scientific+name+for+white+oak&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=923&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjntJqEiKzKAhUFSiYKHXRaD5sQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=smooth+bark+hickory+tree