Learn how to use iNaturalist to document plants and animals while contributing to conservation in Kentucky.
Enjoy a full hour immersed in the sights and sounds of Elk Lick Falls. This program offers the opportunity to slow down, connect to nature, and disconnect from electronic devices while sketching, journaling, or meditating.
Put on your Citizen Scientist hat and join us in counting and identifying the birds at Floracliff.
Zeb Weese, Executive Director of the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, will lead this program for all ages to find some of our native frogs, snakes, salamanders, and turtles in the various habitats of Floracliff, including ponds, fields, and streams.
We will spend time learning our native frogs by sight and sound, then head to the ponds to listen and record data.
End your day with a quiet and relaxing “magic hour” hike at Floracliff. This hike will feature Elk Lick Falls and the oldest documented chinkapin oak in Kentucky.
Our native frogs and toads breed in shallow waters during Spring and the evenings are a great time to get close-up views of them.
The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and Dourson Biological Consulting are conducting an 18-month project to survey the land snail species of Kentucky, update existing records and determine the status of land snail species in the state. This project seeks the collaboration and cooperation from a wide variety of sources across the state including biologists, teachers, land managers, park naturalists and most importantly, CITIZEN SCIENTISTS who are interested in contributing to a scientific study of a lesser known group of organisms that are the building blocks of the ecosystems.
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.
End your day with a quiet and relaxing “magic hour” hike at Floracliff. This hike will feature Elk Lick Falls and the oldest documented chinkapin oak in Kentucky.
Learn how to identify over 40 of our most common butterflies to prepare for the upcoming summer butterfly count (date TBD). This program will be entirely indoors.
For the 3rd year, Floracliff is hosting and organizing the Central Bluegrass Butterfly Count. Butterfly enthusiasts and citizen scientists are encouraged to help us count and document butterflies at various locations throughout Lexington. All data will be submitted to the North American Butterfly Association. Participating sites include the Arboretum, Floracliff, Raven Run, Hisle Park, McConnell Springs, and Wellington Park.
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.
Floracliff has a diversity of moths that come in many different sizes and colors. We will have a few light stations set up with sheets to get a close-up look at our moths and other nocturnal insects.
This introductory workshop will focus on the amazing group of animals known as freshwater mussels. Participants will learn about the life history, ecology, diversity, and conservation of mussels.
Enjoy a full hour immersed in the sights and sounds of Elk Lick Creek. This program offers the opportunity to slow down, connect to nature, and disconnect from electronic devices while sketching, journaling, or meditating. At the end of the hike, participants will have a chance to share as much or as little as they want.
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.
Preserve Director Beverly James will lead this fall wildflower hike highlighting identification and natural history of our late-blooming flowers and the butterflies they attract. Expect to see asters, goldenrods, lobelias, and more.
End your day with a quiet and relaxing “magic hour” hike at Floracliff. This hike will feature Elk Lick Falls and the oldest documented chinkapin oak in Kentucky.
Spiders are one of the most diverse groups of terrestrial invertebrates yet most people only seem to know of black widows, brown recluses, and wolf spiders. This workshop is designed to introduce you to the great diversity in spider forms and behaviors and train you to identify some of the common families of spiders.
Learn the basics of tree identification and how to record your observations using two different apps.
Over 100 species of woody plants grow in the woodlands and forests of Floracliff. On this hike, we’ll learn to identify both common and unusual species that live along the banks of Elk Lick Creek.
Apart from the major trees in our forests, smaller woody plants add greatly to the diversity of our ecosystems. We can use the same skills and field characters that are used to identify the oaks, maples, and other major trees, and apply them to learning the many understory woody plants that add to the complexity of our native vegetation. Understory shrubs and small trees can also help us understand a site’s soil characteristics and disturbance history. This workshop will include a morning hike at Floracliff and an afternoon hike in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Enjoy a full hour immersed in a select location of Floracliff with some of our favorite trees. Starting 2 hours before sunset, this program offers the opportunity to slow down, connect to nature, and disconnect from electronic devices while sketching, journaling, or meditating.
Join us for our annual fall long hike. This hike will cover about 5 miles and will feature the Kentucky River, Elk Lick Falls, Elk Lick Creek, and the oldest documented tree in Fayette County.
End your day with a quiet and relaxing “magic hour” hike at Floracliff. We will hike down to the Kentucky River, taking in the early evening sunlight shining through the trees and reflecting off the palisade cliffs.
The remarkable topography at Floracliff and Elk Lick Falls is the result of a series of geological events beginning some 400 million years ago with the epicontinental seas of the Ordovician Age. More recently the Kentucky River fault zone, the continental glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age, and the evolution of the Ohio River all have had their effects on Floracliff scenery. We will explore the remnants of the seas that covered the area and the rich marine fauna that lived then as well as the evidence for distant volcanoes during that time. With a visit to the falls and to the Kentucky River Gorge we will explore the reasons for their existence. Along the way we will see the effects of the Kentucky River Fault, estimate its immense vertical displacement and see evidence for the river's former existence as a meandering stream over 300 feet above its present position.
This hike will cover about 5 miles and will feature Trail’s End, the Kentucky River, Elk Lick Falls, Elk Lick Creek, and the oldest documented tree in Fayette County.
If you are considering birdwatching as a new hobby, wintertime is a great time to start. We will cover winter birds of the forest and backyard and provide information on how to participate in one of the longest running citizen science programs.
Winter is a great time to enjoy the view of the Kentucky River Palisades. Join us as we descend 300' from the uplands of Floracliff along the old road to the Kentucky River floodplain. We'll walk through river bottoms where farmers once grew corn, tobacco, and hemp, visit a large pawpaw patch, and see the old house that was built after another washed away in the flood of 1937.
Join us for a hike along the Floracliff uplands and down to the junction of Evan's Branch and Elk Lick Creek. Depending on the water level, we may cross the creek for a longer hike. Along the way we'll keep an eye out for birds and learn a bit of natural history.
Enjoy two hours at the charming Trail's End Lodge and adjacent grounds to write, create, or meditate. This program offers the opportunity to slow down, connect to nature, and disconnect from electronic devices. We'll provide hot tea and a warm fire. At the end of the program, participants will have a chance to share as much or as little as they want.
Join J&H Lanmark and Floracliff for an afternoon outing celebrating friendship and the love you have for your lady friends. Take a hike with your gal pals and enjoy some much needed time in the forest on this day of ladies celebrating ladies. Thanks to J&H Lanmark, you’ll have a chance to win some great outdoor swag!
Trees reveal distinctive clues to their identities in every season. Join arborist and naturalist, Nathan Skinner, to learn how to identify trees in winter by observing bark, buds, and leaf scars.
The earliest of spring wildflowers may be peeping out from under the leaves for this late winter hike. Join us as we explore a few of Vicki's favorite trails and celebrate the signs of the season.
This hike will feature the Kentucky River, Elk Lick Falls, Elk Lick Creek, and trees dating to the 1600s. We may even see some early spring wildflowers such as hepatica, purple cress, and snow trillium.
Instructor: Dr. Neil Pederson
Tree rings provide precise annual and seasonal information on climate, ecology, and competition over several centuries. In this dendro-ecology workshop, participants will learn the methods that tree ring scientists use to learn the language of trees. By the end of the day, participants will learn how to interpret the information we get from tree rings over the long lives of trees and have experience coring a tree.
End your day with a quiet and relaxing “magic hour” hike at Floracliff. Starting two hours before sunset, this hike will feature Elk Lick Falls and the oldest documented chinkapin oak in Kentucky.
This wildflower hike will cover natural history, folklore, pollinator relationships, and other information about some of our early spring ephemerals.
Learn to identify some of our earliest spring ephemeral wildflowers. Along the way we will discuss natural history, pollinator relationships, and more.
