Journal 72: A Walk Among Pinehaven’s Trees – Part 2

There’s something quietly incredible about owning a cabin in the forest and not just near it, but among trees that were already standing watch long before most of us ever arrived, and that will likely still be here long after we’re gone.

In Part 1 of this series, we met Pinehaven’s most familiar sentinels: Ponderosa Pine, Quaking Aspen, and Douglas-fir. They form the backbone of Pinehaven’s forest and the species most cabin owners learn to recognize first, sometimes without ever knowing their names. But Pinehaven’s forest is more than its most visible residents.

Step just a little farther from the cabins, follow the slope as it turns cooler or drier, or look toward the rocky edges and sun-baked ridges, and you’ll begin to notice other trees taking over. These species thrive in different conditions and tell a different part of the mountain’s story. Three of Pinehaven’s forest elders were already standing watch long before most of us arrived: the White Fir, Gambel Oak, and Pinyon Pine.

So once again, let’s take a slow walk toward the edges, the in-between spaces, and the species that often go unnoticed, even as they continue standing watch.

4. White Fir

The White Fir is the forest’s natural spire. Its tall, elegant, and dressed year-round like it’s ready for the holidays. Its bluish-green needles, 1–3 inches long, curve upward along the twig and show white stomatal lines on both sides, giving the tree its soft, silvery look. (1) When young, White Fir bark is smooth and gray, dotted with resin blisters that smell faintly of Christmas. With age, that bark toughens up, forming corky ridges with warm orange tones tucked into the cracks. (2) Its cones, 3–5 inches long and olive-green to purplish, stand upright on the upper branches, like candles on a tree.

White Fir favors cool, moist mountain settings, and in Cuchara it’s most at home in high mountain valleys, shaded slopes, canyon bottoms, and north-facing hillsides between 7,900 and 10,200 feet. (3) While its seeds are modest in size and number, squirrels and chipmunks happily harvest them, often caching entire cones or fragments, and birds pick seeds from cones as they break apart. The tree’s dense needles provide reliable, year-round shelter for owls and other birds. Elk and deer tend to skip White Fir at mealtime preferring aspen or willow, but they frequently bed down beneath its thick branches when storms roll through.

For Pinehaven cabin owners, White Fir adds a classic, postcard-worthy forest presence along with cooling shade and that unmistakable mountain-forest scent. Because it thrives in moist, sheltered spots, its presence often signals healthy, well-watered forest pockets that are sometimes near streams. That said, its dense needles and low branches can build up over time, so a little selective thinning helps keep the tree beautiful and reduces fire risk when dry years arrive.

5. Gambel Oak

If White Fir is elegant, Gambel oak is unapologetically messy. The tree can’t quite decide what it wants to be and often looks more like a large, unruly shrub than a proper tree. The Gambel thrives between 6,000 and 8,500 feet in elevation and its shape tells a story: how much it’s been pruned (on purpose or by weather, wildlife, or a heavy snow year). (4) Typically multi-stemmed and ranging from 10 to 30 feet tall, Gambel Oak often forms dense thickets with gray-brown bark that darkens with age. By late summer or early fall, it produces small acorns that are easy to overlook unless the local wildlife finds them first. (5)  

This sun-loving oak spreads enthusiastically, forming thick clonal groups through underground root sprouts that can blanket hillsides and lower mountain slopes. (6) Many Pinehaven cabin owners know this firsthand: ignore a Gambel Oak for a few years and it will happily introduce itself to every corner of your lot. Left unattended, Gambel oak practices a unique form of land acquisition.

Gambel Oak is also a keystone species for wildlife in southern Colorado. Its acorns are an important mast crop for black bears, deer, elk, squirrels, chipmunks, and birds such as wild turkeys and jays. (7) Those same tangled thickets provide excellent cover and nesting habitat for songbirds, grouse, and small mammals. It is almost like nature’s version of a well-insulated cabin during storms and cold snaps. (8)  

For Pinehaven residents, Gambel Oak offers both benefits and responsibilities. Its extensive root system helps hold soil in place, protecting hillsides from erosion during snowmelt and summer storms. (9) Beyond its scenic value, those small acorns support local fur-bearing animals. However, the tree’s dry wood and vigorous growth mean cabin owners need to stay diligent with pruning and fire mitigation. In short, Gambel Oak gives back generously, as long as you keep a close eye on it.

6. Colorado Piñon Pine

The Colorado Piñon Pine is a small, slow-growing evergreen, often shaped by wind and weather into a rounded, irregular form with dense, stubborn branching. (10) As a naturally gnarled mountain survivor, it usually stands 15–30 feet tall, but can occasionally push toward 50 feet if it finds a particularly comfortable spot. It develops a broad, rounded crown with stout branches that look like they’ve been bracing against Colorado winters for a long time. (11) The piñon doesn’t aim for dramatic, it aims for survival, and it’s very good at it.

The tree’s needles are one of its easiest identification clues: they grow two per bundle and are short and stiff, especially when compared with the longer, softer needles of ponderosa pine. Its cones are small and chunky, and their large seeds sit snugly in the cone scales perfectly positioned for birds and small mammals to grab a quick meal. (12)  

Around Cuchara, Piñon Pines are most often found on dry foothills, mesas, sunny slopes, and canyon sides, typically at lower elevations (about 4,900–8,000 feet) where the terrain is warmer and drier. (13) While the Piñon Pine may not win any beauty contests against golden aspens or towering pines, it more than makes up for it in usefulness to wildlife. Its seeds are a critical food source for Clark’s nutcracker, a sharp-eyed gray-and-black mountain bird, along with squirrels and other small mammals. (14)  

For Pinehaven cabin owners, the Piñon Pine adds biodiversity and rugged character to the landscape. It helps stabilize dry slopes, supports nesting and shelter for wildlife, and keeps food sources close for the animals we enjoy seeing around our cabins. That said, its dense growth can become a fire concern if left unchecked near structures and is one more reminder that in Pinehaven, even the toughest little trees appreciate a bit of respectful spacing.

Nature’s Careful Balance

Together, White Fir, Gambel Oak, and Piñon Pine remind us that Pinehaven’s forest isn’t a single uniform stand of trees, it’s a carefully balanced neighborhood. Some trees prefer cool shade and quiet canyon bottoms, others soak up the sun on rocky slopes, and a few seem determined to test just how much room your cabin lot really has. Each plays its part, whether it’s sheltering wildlife, holding a hillside in place, or quietly dropping acorns and seeds for the locals with fur and feathers.

In Part 3, we’ll finish our walk through Pinehaven’s forest by meeting four more characters that thrive where conditions get tougher. We will explore the rugged Rocky Mountain Juniper, the stately Colorado Blue Spruce, the high-country Engelmann Spruce, and the Subalpine Fir trees that are shaped by wind, snow, altitude, and time. These are the species that define the edges of the forest and the feel of the high mountains. So keep your boots on and your eyes up because the last stretch of our Pinehaven tree walk is where things get a little wilder.(15)

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Footnotes

Parenthetical numbers in the text (e.g., 5) correspond to the sequentially numbered citations listed below.

1.  Colorado State Forest Service, “Colorado’s Major Tree Species,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/colorados-major-tree-species/.

2.  Colorado State Forest Service, “Colorado’s Major Tree Species,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/colorados-major-tree-species/.

3.  Colorado State Forest Service, “Colorado’s Major Tree Species,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/colorados-major-tree-species/.

4.  Colorado State Forest Service, “Colorado’s Major Tree Species,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/colorados-major-tree-species/.

5.  “Quercus gambelii (Gambel Oak),” Wikipedia, last modified March 29, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_gambelii

6.  U.S. Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System (FEIS): Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii)—Distribution, Habitat, and Fire Ecology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, accessed December 14, 2025, https://research.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/feis/bps/11070_25_28.pdf

7.  Colorado State University Extension, “Gambel Oak Management,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://extension.colostate.edu/resource/gambel-oak-management/.

8.  “Oak Thickets and Wildlife Habitat,” Visit San Juan National Forest Blog, October 2015, https://visitsfbg.org/october-2015/.

9.  U.S. Forest Service, “Quercus gambelii (Gambel Oak): Species Profile and Ecology,” TreeSearch, U.S. Department of Agriculture, accessed December 14, 2025, https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/52967.

10.  U.S. Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System (FEIS): Pinus edulis (Twoneedle pinyon), https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/pinedu/all.html. US Forest Service

11. Colorado State Forest Service, “Colorado’s Major Tree Species,” accessed December 15, 2025, https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/colorados-major-tree-species/.

12. USDA NRCS, “TWO-NEEDLE PINYON” (Plant Guide), https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_pied.pdf. USDA Plants

13.  U.S. Forest Service, Silvics of North America: Pinyon (elevation band discussion), https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/pinus/edulis.htm. USFS Research & Development+1

14.  Colorado State Forest Service, “Piñon–Juniper Woodlands,” https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/forest-types/pinon-juniper-woodlands/. Colorado State Forest Service

15. Author’s note: In preparing this article, the author used AI-assisted tools for research support, proofreading, fact-checking, and stylistic refinement. The narrative, analysis, and historical interpretations are the author’s own, and responsibility for accuracy rests solely with the author. The blog’s research methodology statement is available at:

https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2019/03/methodology-sources-and-use-of-research.html