Clemson University Forest

10/21/2026

Last week, students in Dr. Betty Baldwin’s PRTM 3300 course on visitor services and interpretation traded the classroom for the Wildcat Picnic Area in the Clemson University Forest to explore environmental education with Dr. Patricia Whitener of 4-H Natural Resources.

Using hands-on activities from Project Learning Tree, the students stepped into both roles: participant, discovering what it feels like to learn through play and inquiry, and facilitator, practicing how to guide others toward that same discovery. They asked good questions, laughed a lot, and leaned into the work of helping people fall in love with the natural world.

Great interpreters aren’t born. They’re grown, one forest classroom at a time.

Heartfelt thanks to:
🌿 Dr. Betty Baldwin, for opening her classroom to the woods and inviting this collaboration
🌿 The Clemson University Forest staff, for caring for these spaces and making them welcoming places to learn
🌿 SC Project Learning Tree, for a curriculum that turns curiosity into connection
🌿 South Carolina 4-H Youth Development , for the commitment to learning by doing that shapes everything we teach

Here’s to the next generation of educators and interpreters, and to every forest that becomes a classroom. 💚🧡

Carolina Project Learning Tree Clemson Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management

10/20/2026

If you've been on the trails near Willow Springs recently, you may have noticed that part of Lawrence Trail has been closed for safety reasons. You're all invited to come help out as we get to work building a new trail segment. Our fall volunteer workday will be on November 14th at 9am, where we'll be working on that reroute.

We'll provide pizza and hand tools, although you're welcome to bring your own. We do ask that you come prepared to work with sturdy shoes and your own gloves.

No previous experience is required. We'll meet at the horseshoe parking area on Old Six Mile Rd at 9am. If you intend to attend, please sign up using the following link:
https://clemson.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cBZkY7u1883ZDpQ

This event is sponsored by our friends at Southpaw Cycles, who will be providing surprise swag!

10/12/2026

Every October, it never fails. Someone is on an early-morning run, bike ride, or dog walk and learns the same lesson I do: You round a bend in the early light, and suddenly you’re wearing a spider’s entire night’s work across your face, sputtering and swatting while the dog looks on, unimpressed.

Our native orb weavers include the yellow garden spiders (the “writing spiders,” named for the zigzag stitching in their webs), banded garden spiders, and marbled orb weavers. They spend the season weaving these architectural marvels at exactly face height. In the past few years, a newer neighbor has been sharing the scaffolding: the Joro spider (Trichonephila clavata), a large yellow-and-gray orb weaver from East Asia. Its hit-and-run hiker-snaring webs now drape across much of the Upstate.

At Clemson University's College of Agriculture, Forestry & Life Sciences, Dr. Dave Coyle, our forest health and invasive species scientist, has been asking the questions the rest of us might be wondering as we pick spider silk off our faces. His team, working with collaborators at Southern Adventist University, used thousands of community science observations to map where Joros live in their native range and in North America. The answer is clear: they are here to stay and are likely to spread across most of the eastern U.S. Dr. Coyle's work also suggests that where Joros are abundant, native spiders are harder to find, which makes this an ecological story worth watching. For anyone holding a stick in a panic, his research found good news, too. Joro bites are unlikely and cause little more than minor discomfort.

They’re not dangerous to people or pets, and the season is short. The first hard frost will take down nature’s Halloween decorations soon enough. Until then, you can do more than just duck. You can snap a pic for science.

Joro Watch 2026 is underway. This is the 5th Annual Joro Spider Spotting & Photo Contest, hosted by our neighboring Land Grant at the University of Georgia’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. From October 12–18, every verified report you submit helps researchers track where Joros are spreading. Your best shots also compete for bragging rights and contest stickers. Snap a clear photo, note where you found it, and submit through JoroWatch.org, EDDMapS.org, or the free EDDMapS app.

Get your camera ready. Walk a little slower this week and tell the scientists what you see.

🕷️ Learn more and report: JoroWatch.org

Joro pic: David Coyle
Additional spider pics: PAWhitener

10/10/2026

4-H in the Forest is cancelled for today!
Please stay home and stay safe & dry.
Registration for the November 4-H in The Forest: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4-h-in-the-forest-november-2026-workshop-tickets-1994304753202?aff=oddtdtcreator

10/02/2026

Youth Only Deer Hunt - Saturday, October 3, 2026

Every year on the first Saturday in October the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources hosts a youth only deer hunt (by lottery) in Fant's Grove Wildlife Management Area. The objective of these special hunts is to properly introduce new, young hunters to the challenges, enjoyment and thrills associated with hunting white-tailed deer and to make sure that their early experiences are conducted in a safe and ethical manner. A parent, responsible adult or DNR personnel supervise them and sit in the deer stand with them. Small caliber center fire ri**es with scopes are utilized during this event.

While this event is tightly controlled and monitored by the SCDNR for safety we recommend that recreational users avoid the roads and trails encompassed in the red shaded area of the map on Saturday, October 3, 2026.

Good luck to the young hunters!

10/01/2026

Money doesn't grow on trees… or does it? 🌲💵

A new post on the Clemson University Forest blog makes a compelling case that, in at least one sense, there is a benefit that has not been accounted for. Clemson researchers found that the Clemson University Forest saves about $752 a year in healthcare costs for each employee household living near it. That estimate doesn't even include the added benefits of clean water, flood protection, shade, teaching and research, and the same per-person health benefit extends to our non-employee neighbors, too.

Drawing on a study of nearly five million people, Clemson University researchers Matthew Browning and Olivia McAnirlin found that people living in the greenest neighborhoods cost the health system noticeably less each year, and the savings grow fastest where trees are already plentiful. Applied to the roughly 2,900 Clemson employees who live in the communities the Forest wraps around, that amounts to about $2.18 million a year in healthcare cost savings.

Faculty and staff say the Forest is twice as important in their decision to stay at Clemson as it was in their decision to come. A job offer brings people here. A favorite trail to walk the dog, a quiet run, a Saturday walk or bike ride with the kids, the place where you decompress after a busy week, those are what make a place feel like a healthy community.

It isn't listed on any of our employee benefits statements, but it has been paying out a real, measurable value all along!

Read the full post here 👉 https://blogs.clemson.edu/cuforest/cuf-employee-benefits/

09/25/2026

Only a few spots left for October 10th 4-H in the Forest! We'll be learning about Campfire safety & Fire Ecology. Did you know that prescribed fire can help manage a healthy forest?
There will be s'mores.
Register here:

Hands-On Learning Days in the Clemson University Forest. Get ready to explore nature and learn cool skills with 4-H out in the forest!

09/24/2026

🐯🌲 Heads up, Forest friends: Trail Run this Saturday!

This Saturday, September 26, the Clemson Wildlife Society student club is hosting the Clemson Wildlife Trail Run in the Clemson University Forest, featuring marathon, half-marathon, and 10K courses that wind through the North Forest. It's a fundraiser for a great group of students, and we're proud to host them.

What to expect: Heavy traffic and congestion at the Issaqueena Trailhead on Old Six Mile Road and the surrounding area throughout the day, with runners on the trails.

If you're not running, here are some alternatives:
🅿️ Park at the picnic shelters on Issaqueena Lake Road. That area won't be affected.
🧭 Explore the South Forest Fants Grove area. If the North Forest is your usual spot, this could be a good day to try somewhere new.

Whether you're lacing up for race day or finding a quieter corner of the Forest, thanks for sharing these trails with care. And if you see the runners out there, give them a cheer! 📣