Lose yourself in the beauty of trees at Riverfront Park

If you’ve ever been accused of not seeing the forest for the trees, you probably know you were being told that you may have spent just a bit too much time on the details and not enough on the big picture.

But Saturday, you’ll have the opportunity to focus on the trees.

At 2 p.m., the city of Columbia is presenting a free ranger-led walk to explore the variety of trees in Riverfront Park and learn how to identify the trees in your yard, neighborhood or local park.

“There are dozens of varieties of trees in Riverfront Park alone,” said ranger John McKenzie, who will lead the walk. “We’ll determine varieties with a special key that narrows down observations of things like leaf shape and arrangement, bark and other characteristics until you have the variety. It’s pretty cool.”

Here are a few reasons why trees deserve all the love (and attention) you can give them:

▪ A single tree produces about 260 pounds of oxygen per year.

▪ Over the course its life, a single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide.

▪ Roadside trees reduce nearby indoor air pollution by more than 50 percent.

▪ Leaves appear green because chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light energy, causing the green energy to bounce off each leaf’s surface.

▪ Trees are among the world’s oldest living things.

Don’t forget binoculars and field guides as well as any essentials like water, sunscreen, bug repellant, hats and sturdy walking footwear. The walk will last about 90 minutes.

Meet at the Riverfront Park (South) parking lot, 312 Laurel St.

For more information, call (803) 545 3100.