Take a Hike! …with KNPS

Due to COVID-19, all KNPS Field Trips for 2020 have been cancelled. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Our 2020 schedule of day hikes is now available!  We will keep you posted on social media and our web site if there is a change.  See you at Berea College Forest,  Metro Lake,  UK Arboretum, and Pine Creek Barrens!  Registration is needed and forms will be available on the web site (30 days before)  at www. Knps.org.

April 25, 9:30AM – 11:30AM at Berea College Forest

Join David Taylor, Daniel Boone National Forest Botanist for a hike in the Berea College Forest.  Meet at the Indian Fort Parking Area at 9:30AM for a hike in dry and mesic forest. Bring water and snacks/lunch. The view on a clear day is great. Difficulty is moderate.

August 29, 10:00AM – 2:00PM at Metropolis Lake SNP, McCracken County

Snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea)

Jeff Nelson, KNPS Webmaster, will lead a short walk through one of Kentucky’s unique ecosystems, the floodplain woods on the shores of Metropolis Lake. This is one of the few places in Kentucky that has intact stands of bald cypress, water tupelo, and overcup oak. We should also see one of Kentucky’s rare plant species, snow squarestem, in full flower. Difficulty is easy.




October 3, 10AM – 12:00PM at The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky; 500 Alumni Drive, Lexington, KY

Join the UK Arboretum Curator, Emily Ellingson, on a two-mile autumn walk through a representation of the seven regions of Kentucky to learn about the collection, propagation, and maintenance of the state’s most common and rare flora. Difficulty is easy.

October 10, 10:00AM at Pine Creek Barrens

Great Plains lady’s tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum)

Join KNPS member Alan Abbott on a tour of Nature Conservancy property at Pine Creek Barrens in Shepherdsville.  Only 40 minutes from downtown Louisville, the natural area houses limestone/dolomite glades and barrens, as well as wet, shady bottomlands along Pine Creek. Early October usually brings the flowers of two species rare to Kentucky, the Great Plains Ladiestresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum) and Barrens Silky Aster (Symphyotrichum pratense). Stiff Gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia) frequently emerges in mid-October and we might catch some early flowers.   Time permitting, we will complete the entire two and a half mile trail. Difficulty is easy/moderate.

2020 Nature Summit

Kentucky Nature Preserves, in partner with KNPS and other conservation agencies, is throwing  the first annual Nature Summit at Pine Mountain State Resort Park. This event will be April 24th-26th and will be a gathering of naturalists of all ages to celebrate and explore the biodiversity in the Pine Mountain region.

Join us for hikes, presentations, children’s activities, and exclusive night time field trips all led by the experts! Some field trips have limited space and require sign-up with registration. Others occur on park property all day long and do not require sign-up. There is something for everyone, so bring the whole family!

Kentucky Native Plant Society has helped put together the hike at Bad Branch State Nature Preserve on Saturday, April 25th: Join KNP botanist Heidi Braunreiter and Cumberland Falls SRP Naturalist Olivia Immitt, on a hike through Bad Branch SNP. This preserve protects the largest concentrations of rare and uncommon species known to the state! We’ll pass babbling brooks and hemlock groves through a deep ravine on our way to a 60-foot waterfall that crowns the natural beauty of this site. Learn about rare plants, medicinal plants, and the overall forest ecology of the area. This field trip requires sign-up with registration.

Click here to register and see a full schedule of the Kentucky Nature Summit. All participants must register to attend. An email regarding field trip sign-up will be sent to you once you have registered.

Land between the Lakes- Botanical Hotspot Tour

Date of trip: 07/06/2019
Start time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Central Time
Location: Land Between The Lakes
Difficulty of hike: Moderate

Length of hike: 3-4 miles

Join Devin Rodgers, botanist at Kentucky Nature Preserves, as we stop at several botanically important sites at LBL from prairies to wetlands. Devin has worked extensively at LBL conducting floristic surveys, rare species surveys and habitat characterizations. Elizabeth Raikes (LBL staff biologist), Tara Littlefield (botanist at Kentucky Nature Preserves), Jim Scheff (Heartwood Director), and representatives from Austin Peay University and Southeastern Grassland Initiative will also be there to assist in logistics and identifications. In addition, you will learn about ongoing efforts to protect rare species and communities at botanical sites at LBL and how you can help by assisting with monitoring, management, and restoration projects. A new way to document and assist in monitoring rare plants is iNaturalist.

Directions: Meet at the Woodlands Nature Center parking lot at 10 AM.

Registration: This field trip is limited to 15 people.

Prairies and Forests of Shaker Village
of Pleasant Hill

TRIP IS FULL
Date of trip: 06/22/2019
Start time: 10:00 am to 01:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg, KY 40330
Difficulty of hike: Moderate

Length of hike: 2-3 miles

Join Laura Baird, assistant preserve manager and naturalist, on a hike to view the prairie restoration, as well as the adjacent forests at Shakertown. You will learn many prairie flowers, trees and shrubs, woodland flowers, and even some pollinators!

Directions: We’ll meet at the West Trailhead, by the Stables.
Enter on Shakertown Road off of US 68. Turn left at the entrance onto West Lot Road and drive past the pond. The road goes to a stop sign at the bottom of the hill by the creek. Turn right at the stop sign and continue over the creek, past the West Lot Dwelling. The road ends at the Stables. You’ll see a large map at the West Trailhead. You can park near it in the grass behind the Stables.

Registration: This field trip was limited to 10 people and is now full, sorry for any inconvenience.

Pine Barrens of the Cumberland Plateau

Field Trip Is Full
Date of trip: 06/07/2019
Start time: 10:00 am to 02:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Keno and Curt Pond Ridge Conservation Site, Pulaski Co.
Difficulty of hike: Moderate – Mostly hiking along a roadside.
Length of hike: 2 miles

Join Jim Scheff (Director of Heartwood), Tara Littlefield (botanist at the office of Kentucky Nature Preserves) and David Taylor (forest botanist at the Daniel Boone National Forest) as we explore the Keno and Curt Pond Ridge Conservation Site, a botanical hotspot of prairie and pine oak barrens, seeps and upland ponds just south of Somerset. Wood Lily should be in full bloom along with several other interesting plants. Plus, you will learn about ongoing efforts to protect rare species and communities at this site and how you can help by assisting with monitoring, management and restoration projects. Hike will be approximately 2 miles, moderate, mostly roadside. 10 person limit.

Directions: We will meet in the parking lot of the Davis grocery/Marathon Gas Station off 127 just south of Burnside and then caravan/carpool to the site.  See HERE for a link to Google maps.

Registration: This field trip was limited to 10 people. It is now full, sorry.

Griffith Woods WMA

Date of trip: 05/11/2019
Start time: 09:00 am to 12:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Approximately 4 miles southwest of Cynthiana, Harrison County
Difficulty of hike: Moderate
Length of hike: 2 miles

Join Dr. Julian Campbell at Griffith Woods and hear all about this iconic bluegrass woodland with old growth oaks and hickories, cane thickets and remnant mesic herbaceous flowers, such as bear grass and running buffalo clover. Julian has been studying bluegrass woodland vegetation for over 40 years and is the authority on past and present plants and communities in the region. Go to http://bluegrasswoodland.com/Griffith_Woods.html for information on Griffith Woods compiled by Julian. Plus, you will learn how you can help in ongoing efforts to protect rare species and communities at Griffith Wood WMA through assisting with monitoring, management and restoration projects. If you would like stay late from 1pm-4 pm, you can help to work on invasive species removal.

Directions: We will meet at 9 am in the main parking lot on east side of US 62 about 1500 feet north of the T junction with Russell Cave Road (Route 353). More detailed directions can be found at https://app.fw.ky.gov/Public_Lands_Search/detail.aspx?Kdfwr_id=9201

Registration: This field trip is limited to 15 people. To register for this trip fill out this Registration Form.

Hazeldell Meadow Nature Preserve

Date of trip: 04/05/2019
Start time: 10:00 am to 01:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: Located in Pulaski County on Ocala Road, across from the Hazeldell Church
Difficulty of hike: Easy
Length of hike: 1.5 miles
The hike is easy, but some of the hike will be off-trail.

Join Dr. Krupa at Hazeldell Meadow Nature Preserve and hear all about his latest studies of Kentucky’s rarest carnivorous plant, the dwarf sundew, (Drosera brevifolia). He has been studying this plant and its fascinating habitat for over 13 years! We will also learn about other associated species, such as spiders and other interesting plants. Tara Littlefield (botanist at the office of Kentucky Nature Preserves) will also be there to answer any rarity, natural community or floristic questions, as well as John Burnett (Pulaski County Conservation District Land Manager). Plus, you will learn how you can help in ongoing efforts to protect rare species and communities at Hazeldell through assisting with monitoring, management and restoration projects at Hazeldell Meadow Nature Preserve.

Directions: 1150-1492 Ocalla Rd, Somerset, KY 42503. Link to Google Maps

Registration: This field trip was limited to 10 people and is now full. Sorry.