To kick off BotanyBlitz 2023 and Wildflower Week, on Saturday, April 8, we will host a series of First Day Hikes in parks and natural areas across the Commonwealth. These easy nature walks will be led by local botanizers who know the native plant species that will be encountered in each area. As the First Day hikes are meant to start the BotanyBlitz project, we are hoping that folks who plan to participate will sign up for an iNaturalist account (if they don’t already have one) and join the BotanyBlitz 2023 project.
Please fill out the form at the bottom of this page if you are going to participate in one of the First Day hikes. If you have any questions email us at WildflowerWeekend2023@knps.org.
List of First Day Hikes
10:00 AM EDT Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve, Shepherdsville KY: 1.5 miles, easy loop trail. Join Kentucky Native Plant society member Alan Abbott on a spring barrens walk through the preserve, just a short drive from Louisville, KY. Meet and park in the Pine Creek Barrens parking area (1264 Pine Creek Trail, Shepherdsville, KY 40165).
10:00 AM EDT St. Anne Woods and Wetlands, Melbourne KY: 0.7 miles, easy walk, loop trail. Join Northern Kentucky University professor, Dr. Maggie Whitson, on this walk through the wetlands and floodplain of the Ohio River. Trails may be muddy, so choose footwear accordingly. Park and meet at the St. Anne Convent visitor parking lot (off Mary Ingles Hwy, Melbourne, KY 41059).
12:00 PM CDT Woodland Walk Trail & Honker Lake Trail, Land Between the Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area, Eddyville KY: 2.5 miles, easy walk, loop trail. Walk with Murray State graduate student Gage Barnes along the Woodland Walk Trail & part of Honker Lake Trail and see a diversity of woodland plant species. Meet and park at the Woodlands Nature Station parking lot (3146 Silver Trail Road, Cadiz, KY 42211).
10:00 AM CDT River Styx Spring Trail & Dixon Cave Trail, Mammoth Cave National Park, Park City KY: moderate hike that descends 300 ft in elevation, then ascends again. Learn with Mammoth Cave naturalists Steve Kistler, Janet Kistler, and Carol Friedman on these trails with a wide variety of spring wildflowers and impressive rock formations. Park and meet at the flagpole at the Mammoth Cave Visitors Center (1 Mammoth Cave Pkwy, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259).
10:00 AM CDT Metropolis Lake SNP, McCracken Co, KY: 1 mile, easy to moderate walk, some off trail. Join Kentucky Native Plant Society President, Jeff Nelson & KNPS Member and Nature Preserves Monitor, Bob Dunlap, on this walk through the bald cypress-tupelo swamp forest on the floodplains of Metropolis Lake SNP. In addition to the trees we should see several species of spring ephemerals in flower. If we are lucky we will also see the rare (in KY) Carolina silverbells tree (Halesia carolina) in flower. Parts of the walk may be muddy, so choose footwear accordingly. Meet at the Metropolis Lake parking area (Stafford Rd, McCracken Co., KY)
First Day Hike Registration Form
Please complete the form below if you are going to participate in one of the First Day hikes.