The forest cover type in most of the park is  considered mixed oak. This mature mixed oak forest doesn’t just contains oaks, but along with pin, red, bur and white oak, there are red maple, black cherry, hackberry, elm, ash, birch, aspen, and ironwood trees. (You may also see a number of conifer trees in several areas of the park, most of which were planted many years ago. Conifer trees have needles and cones.) Having a variety of trees in this type of forest provides food and shelter for a wide range of wildlife. In this particular location, take a look at the number of different types of tree leaves that you can see lying on the ground or on the trees. In the summer, a tree takes water and nutrients from the ground and sends it to the leaves. The leaves then get to work combining the water with carbon dioxide from the air and energy from the sun to make sugars to feed the tree. You can identify many types of trees by the shapes of their leaves. To access a simple tree identification key by the University of Minnesota Extension, go to https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/49816.