The great boreal forests of northern Canada that stretch from Labrador to the Northwest Territories are ecologically unique in the limited number of trees, wildlife and birds that inhabit them, and they include species such as Jack pine, lynx and spruce grouse.

In northern New York, boreal forests, named for Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind, dip southward into a few select places where, close to home, we can take a look at some, but not all, of the common species of those northern forests.

Coldwater bogs seem to go hand in hand with boreal forests. These bogs are poorly drained, acidic wetlands usually characterized by a thick carpet of sphagnum moss with a couple of stunted tamaracks clinging to what little soil there is. Heaths such as Labrador tea, leatherleaf and ground cranberries often line the outer rim of a bog, and the nearby boreal forest in the North Country is one of evergreens like balsam fir and black spruce. Unlike northern Canada, we have only a few small plots of Jack pine, and those are on the scoured rock pavement and flat rocks unique to northern Clinton County.

Most of our boreal forests with bogs are hard to get to, places like Spring Pond Bog in a remote area west of Tupper Lake and even the north end of Osgood Pond, which has the look of the James Bay region of Canada. One good place to get a feel for these unique ecosystems is the Boreal Trail at the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretative Center off Route 30 just north of Paul Smith's College. Here there is easy access to the world of boreal forests and bogs.

The Boreal Trail starts at the north end of the parking area where there is a color-coded trail map. It might not be a bad idea to stop in the Center building if you have specific questions. From the parking area, the trail with a packed-woodchip base weaves its way north through a boreal forest of spruce and balsam fir, becoming increasingly wet as the spruce and fir give way to tamaracks and sphagnum moss, to where it melds into a man-made 1600-foot boardwalk suspended over a boggy end of Barnum Pond.

It is here you move into a world of typical bog plants that includes carnivorous pitcher plants, sundews, and bladderworts. And, there are mosses, lots of water-soaked mosses, some green, some maroon and deep yellow.

Because bogs are so acidic, rotting vegetation can turn to peat (and in some places soft coal) which acts as a preservative. A wooly mammoth was discovered intact in a Siberian bog; it looked like it had just died. Ancient people in northern Europe buried their dead in bogs, preserving the bodies to some extent.

The trail out after the boardwalk works its way back to the parking area, cutting through more boreal forest. In all, it is a one-mile loop, certainly a lot easier and fuel-efficient than the 400-mile drive it would take to view these unique ecological features in Canada.