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Wildflower Long Hike

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Experience Floracliff in full bloom! Join us for a rare opportunity to view the abundance of spring ephemeral wildflowers on display throughout the sanctuary. We’ll cross Elk Lick Creek to see what’s blooming along the rich north-facing slopes and trek to the Trail’s End floodplain to bask in the bountiful wildflowers alongside the Palisades cliffs. Throughout the hike, we’ll stop to highlight some of our favorite wildflowers.

$15

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees.

Free

Easy Earth Day Wildflower Walk & Bird Watch

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Celebrate Earth Day at Floracliff with a easy stroll through the forest to see spring wildflowers, migrating birds, and more. This hike will be mostly on a paved 1/3-mile driveway to the Trail End Lodge. Seating will be available outside the Lodge to relax and view the bird feeding stations for an hour.

Free

City Nature Challenge 2022: Lexington

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary, Lexington Parks & Recreation, and NABA-Central Kentucky are thrilled to be co-hosting the City Nature Challenge 2022 for Lexington. This year, we are competing with Louisville Metro and Madison County to observe the most species, recruit the most participants, and contribute the most observations during the 4-day challenge. Join the challenge to help us document Kentucky's biodiversity!

City Nature Challenge: Nighttime Exploration w/ Shelby Fulton

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Calling all community scientists! This program will focus on exploring Floracliff’s ponds and forest edges after dark for the City Nature Challenge. We’ll focus on discovering and documenting frogs, moths, and more. We recommend that each registered party have at least one member who has, or can create, an iNaturalist account in advance of the program.

Free

City Nature Challenge: Herpetology Hike w/ Zeb Weese

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Calling all community scientists! This program will focus on exploring Floracliff’s field, forest, and aquatic habitats in search of reptiles and amphibians for the City Nature Challenge. We recommend that each registered party have at least one member who has, or can create, an iNaturalist account in advance of the program.

Free

City Nature Challenge: Creek Exploration w/ Mike Compton

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Calling all community scientists! This program will focus on exploring a section of one of our creeks to discover and document aquatic life for the City Nature Challenge.

Free

Forest Birds of the Palisades w/ Ben Leffew & Michael Patton

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Kentucky birders Ben Leffew (Shaker Village) and Michael Patton (KY Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources) will lead this hike featuring the diversity of birds that use the forests of the Kentucky River Palisades.

$15

Golden Hour Hike to the Kentucky River

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will head down to the Kentucky River floodplain, where setting sun lights up the palisades.

Free

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees.

Free

A Tour of Floracliff’s Old Oaks

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Floracliff's forested ravines are home to some of the oldest known trees in Kentucky. This hike will feature many of these 17th- and 18th-century chinquapin oaks. We will discuss the characteristics of old trees, the uniqueness of Floracliff’s old trees, and their significance to the region. We will also stop to appreciate spring wildflowers blooming on the forest floor. We are thrilled to offer this special hike for free thanks to the generosity of sponsors David and Kathy Rees Johnson!

Free

Sedges of the Palisades Hike w/ Kentucky Nature Preserves Botanists

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Many of the grass-like plants one may encounter in Kentucky’s natural areas are not actually grasses. Although similar, they are members of an entirely different family of plants. This hike will focus on the largest genus within the sedge family (Cyperaceae), the genus Carex. With close to 150 species in this genus found in Kentucky, the diversity of sedges (Carex) is astounding and they can tell us a lot about the natural communities upon which they are found. Join OKNP botanists Devin Rodgers and Vanessa Voelker on a hike to learn some of the most common sedges found in the Bluegrass.

$10

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees.

Free

Canceled Webinar: Butterflies of Central Kentucky: Identification, Diversity, and Ecology

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Nearly 150 butterflies have been documented throughout Kentucky. This webinar presentation will feature over 45 of the most common summer butterflies in the Inner Bluegrass region. Participants will learn tricks for identification, basic biology of butterflies, and their relationships with native plants. We will also cover community science projects and resources so that participants can document and share their butterfly observations.

Free

Field Day: Butterflies of Central Kentucky

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

This field day will provide hands-on experience in butterfly identification at Floracliff and possibly another nearby location in Fayette County. It should be a great primer (or refresher) for those wishing to participate in the Central Bluegrass Butterfly Count in July.

$15

West Sixth For A Cause supporting Floracliff Nature Sanctuary

West Sixth Farm 4495 Shadrick Ferry Rd, Frankfort, KY, United States

Join Floracliff Nature Sanctuary at the West Sixth Farm on Saturday, June 25, 2-5 PM, for a Sixth for a Cause event! To celebrate National Pollinator Week, Floracliff staff and volunteer naturalists will offer a few activities: - guided 45-minute walks in the fields to look for pollinators and other insects, starting at 2:15 PM […]

Elk Lick Creek Walk

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Elk Lick Creek flows through the heart of Floracliff and provides habitat for a diversity of amphibians, reptiles, insects, fish, and more. Join Floracliff Naturalists on this trek along a scenic 1/2-mile section of of the creek to explore the biodiversity and take in the beauty of the area.

$10

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees.

Free

Nature at Night: Moths and More

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Floracliff has a diversity of moths that come in many different sizes and colors. These insects play an important role in the ecosystem, having intricate relationships with our native plants, birds, and bats. Join us for this program to kick off National Moth Week, when we will have a few light stations set up with sheets to get a close-up look at our moths and other nocturnal insects. Bring a flashlight!

$10

Elk Lick Creek Walk

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Elk Lick Creek flows through the heart of Floracliff and provides habitat for a diversity of amphibians, reptiles, insects, fish, and more. Join Floracliff Naturalists on this trek along a scenic 1/2-mile section of of the creek to explore the biodiversity and take in the beauty of the area.

Hike Leaders: Dan Patrick and Mark Wells

$10

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees.

Free

Mindful Hiking: The Healing Power of Nature

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Join us for a sensory exploration of Floracliff. Our intention will be finding the peace of mind that comes from opening to sights, sounds, and scents of the woodlands. On our walk we will meditate and explore the mindfulness of movement while opening to a greater awareness of this amazing space.

$10

Creating Art in Nature: Four Sessions

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

If you have an interest or desire to broaden your skills as a naturalist and artist, come join us for four art making sessions sited within the beautiful nature preserve at Floracliff. We’ll be outside creating art! Session hosts: Steve Bennett and Laura Mentor

Free

iNaturalist in Action: A hands-on training

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Join us for this hands-on demonstration using iNaturalist along the trails of Floracliff. We’ll spend some time exploring biodiversity, and we will cover the benefits of nature observations, basics of the app, and effective photos for species identification. 

Free

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees.

Free

The Aster family- Asteraceae: An introduction to navigating this large and important plant family

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

The Asteraceae, or composites, contain more species of flowering plants than all others (but the orchids). There are more composites in our regional flora, and indeed any temperate flora, than any other plant family. They inhabit just about every habitat and are conspicuous throughout the growing season, especially in late summer and fall. Easy to recognize as a family when flowering, the large number of species and its sometimes inconspicuous but important identifying field characters, can overwhelm us. Knowing what to look for and how the family is organized will help! We will review the features and specialized terms that allow us to recognize a composite to the family. Then we will dive into Asteraceae organization (systematics)- learning to recognize groups of genera called tribes- that can help us work our way through and identify most composites, at least to genus. We will look at herbarium specimens and collected live plants, as well as explore late-blooming composites within Floracliff.

$15

Bluegrass Land & Nature Symposium

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Floracliff and the Lexington Chapter of Wild Ones are partnering this fall to host the Bluegrass Land and Nature Symposium. Join us Saturday, October 1st, for a full day focused on the biodiversity, ecology, and stewardship of the Bluegrass region. Registration opens August 2, 2022.

Tree Week Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest trees. We are offering this free hike in celebration of Tree Week. Hike Leader: Terri Koontz, Floracliff Volunteer Hike distances: 1.5 miles; […]

Free

A Tour of Floracliff’s Old Oaks

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Floracliff’s forested ravines are home to some of the oldest known trees in Kentucky. This hike will feature many of these 17th- and 18th-century chinquapin oaks. We will discuss the characteristics of old trees, the uniqueness of Floracliff’s old trees, and their significance to the region.

Free

Golden Hour Hike to the Kentucky River

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This hike will head down to the Kentucky River floodplain, where setting sun lights up the palisades.

Free

Birding For Beginners

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

If you’ve ever thought birdwatching would be fun or interesting but didn’t know how to start come join us for a Birding for Beginners walk and sit. We’ll discuss the use of binoculars (we have nice ones you can use for the day); what to look for when you see a bird; discuss some free apps that help you figure out what you are seeing and we’ll go see some birds!  The bird walk will be slow and relaxing and we’ll end with watching some feeders for our most common feeder birds.

$10

Fall Long Hike

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Our “long hikes” provide a great opportunity to see a lot of Floracliff in one day. In late fall, most of the leaves have fallen, making way for scenic views of the Elk Lick Valley. This hike will cover about 5 miles and will feature Trail’s End, the Kentucky River, Elk Lick Falls, and Elk Lick Creek.

$15

Thanksgiving Eve Long Hike

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Our “long hikes” provide a great opportunity to see a lot of Floracliff in one day. In late fall, most of the leaves have fallen, making way for scenic views of the Elk Lick Valley. This hike will cover about 5 miles and will feature Trail’s End, the Kentucky River, Elk Lick Falls, and Elk Lick Creek.

$15

A Tour of Floracliff’s Old Oak Trees

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Meet some of Kentucky's oldest known trees on this hike at Floracliff.Floracliff’s forested ravines are home to some of the oldest known trees in Kentucky. This hike will feature many of these 17th- and 18th-century chinquapin oaks. We will discuss the characteristics of old trees, the uniqueness of Floracliff’s old trees, and their significance to […]

Signs of Spring Long Hike

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Join us to kick off our spring hike season with this long hike featuring Elk Lick Creek and Elk Lick Falls.Join us to kick off our spring hike season with this long hike featuring Elk Lick Creek and Elk Lick Falls. We will also look for early blooming wildflowers along the way such as hepatica, […]

Golden Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees.End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This will feature Elk Lick Falls and one of Kentucky’s oldest known […]

Golden Hour Hike to the Kentucky River

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees.End your day with a quiet and relaxing “golden hour” hike at Floracliff while the early evening sunset shines through the trees. This hike will head down to the Kentucky River floodplain, where setting […]

Wildflower Hike with Beverly James

Join us to see the first wildflowers of the season.Join us for an early spring wildflower hike to see the first blooms of the season. This hike will highlight identification, ecology, and pollinator relationships of our spring ephemerals.Hike Leader: Beverly James, Preserve DirectorHike distance and difficulty: 1.5 miles; rated moderate due to steep and uneven […]

Wildflower Hike to Elk Lick Falls

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary 8000 Elk Lick Falls Road, Lexington, KY, United States

Experience early spring at Floracliff on this wildflower hike.Join us for an early spring wildflower hike to see the first blooms of the season. This hike will highlight identification, ecology, and pollinator relationships of our spring ephemerals.Hike Leader: TBDHike distance and difficulty: 2 miles; rated moderate to difficult, due to steep and uneven terrain and […]

Wildflower Hike

Join Floracliff naturalists for a spring wildflower hike.Join us for an early spring wildflower hike to see the first blooms of the season. This hike will highlight identification, ecology, and pollinator relationships of our spring ephemerals.Hike Leader: TBDHike distance and difficulty: 1.5 - 2 miles; rated moderate to difficult, due to steep and uneven terrain […]