01
Tracking & Sign
Learn to notice tracks, trails, feeding sign, scat, beds, and the subtle evidence animals leave behind. Sessions emphasize observation and sound reasoning.
A field journal from Central New York
Learning to read the stories written on the land.
WoodsLore follows one learner’s continuing journey into wildlife tracking, nature awareness, bushcraft, and a deeper relationship with the northeastern forest.
The journal
Notes from along the trail
Not answers handed down from an expert, but observations, questions, mistakes, and discoveries shared by a serious student of tracks and sign.
Loading the latest field note…
From the field notebook
Looking closely.
Learning slowly.
These are photographs from my own walks and journals—small pieces of evidence held still long enough to study. Some invite an identification. Others are simply reminders to notice first, wonder second, and let certainty arrive in its own time.
A curated glimpse of the real places, questions, and discoveries behind WoodsLore.
For schools, nature centers & communities
Learning opportunities
Place-based programs can be adapted for children, adults, educators, or mixed community groups—from a single field session to a short series.
02
Nature Awareness
Build attention through sensory exercises, sit-spot practice, bird language, questioning, and seasonal exploration rooted in the local landscape.
03
Bushcraft & Forest Skills
Hands-on learning in safe, ethical firecraft, shelter principles, natural materials, green woodworking, and skills that deepen relationship with place.
“I am not writing from the end of the journey. I am writing from somewhere along the trail.”
About the author
Jon Harshbarger
Jon is a lifelong student of wildlife tracking, nature study, and the traditional skills that bring people into closer relationship with the land.
WoodsLore is where he shares what he is learning—careful observations, developing interpretations, useful practices, and the questions that keep drawing him back outside.
Master’s degree in Outdoor & Environmental Education
Tracker Certification North America Level 3, Track & Sign
Decades of experience in outdoor learning and nature study
Based in the hills and forests of Central New York
Community
Central New York Tracking Club
A free, welcoming place to practice wildlife tracking with other curious people. We learn together outdoors, follow questions wherever they lead, and help one another see more.
The club is part of the WoodsLore story, but it remains a community learning group—not a prerequisite for attending a program or reading the journal.
Bring place-based learning to your group.
Tell me who you serve, what setting you have, and what you hope participants will carry home.
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