This patch of woods, dominated by pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla), is a glimpse of the plant life you can find in the higher mountains. And it represents the only kind of woodland forest found in the park. In late summer and early fall, these plants offer highly nutritious foods to wildlife, and for centuries these same foods were important to desert people.
Pine needles accumulate on the woodland floor, while shrubs like mountain mahogany, scrub oak, and antelope brush fill spaces in between the pines and interspersed juniper trees. The trees provide abundant shade and shelter as well as food in the form of pine nuts, juniper berries, and acorns. Gray foxes, dusky chipmunks, pinyon mice, mountain quail, and pinyon and scrub jays are attracted to this woodland community.
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Pinyon juniper woodland habitat