Most of the trees in the immediate area are either Utah juniper or pinyon pine. The pinyon pines are the trees with the smoother bark and two to three inch long needles. They also have woody cones and produce pine nuts, which were heavily used by Native Americans and are still frequently gathered for home use or sold. Many of the pinyons at this stop are infested with a parasitic plant called dwarf mistletoe. Although dwarf mistletoe does not generally kill trees, it weakens them and makes them more susceptible to insects and diseases.

The Utah junipers have a more yellowish-green look and scaly leaves instead of needles. Junipers have shredding bark and are conifers like pines, but with seeds enclosed in a small blue cone that resembles a fleshy berry instead of the usual woody or papery cones found on most conifers. The seeds and especially the bark of juniper were heavily used by Native Americans for a variety of products such as sandals and bedding. Both species are commonly found growing together throughout Utah in what are often referred to as pinyon-juniper or PJ communities. Forests need more water than is available in the lower Utah valleys, and the PJ communities tend to be the first you come to as you go up in elevation from the drier valley floors into the moister mountains, so both species are very drought tolerant.

To the south of this stop is a small community called Pack Creek. Many of the homes are within what is called the wildland-urban interface. This interface is where human habitations extend into wildland areas that contain fire-prone vegetation, creating a wildfire hazard that didn’t previously exist. Thinning and pruning of trees or removal of vegetation around the Pack Creek community has been completed by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands; this work is referred to as fuel reduction. Reducing the amount of fuel in the area is an important step in creating a firewise landscape around homes.