Bear Run Natural Area is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

Centre County Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County is composed of the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. It is part of

Bald Eagle State Forest Bald Eagle State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #7. The main office is located in Laurelton in Union County, Pennsylvania. The forest is found in Centre, Clinton, Mifflin, Snyder, and Uni ...

. The area protects a small stand of

old-growth An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

hemlock and

tulip trees ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...

. These trees may have survived the Pennsylvania logging era of the late 1800s, because loggers may have chosen to preserve the stand as a shady rest area for themselves and their draft animals.

References

{{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania Protected areas of Centre County, Pennsylvania