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September 2019
Fall Wildflowers and Butterflies
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.
Find out more »Magic Hour Hike to Elk Lick Falls
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.
Find out more »October 2019
Spiders of Kentucky: A Floracliff Field Studies Workshop
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.
Find out more »Trees, TreeSnap, & iNaturalist: A Citizen Science Workshop
Learn the basics of tree identification and how to record your observations using two different apps.
Find out more »Trees of the Creek
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.
Find out more »Shrubs and Understory Trees of Central and Eastern Kentucky
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.
Find out more »Creative Reflections Hike: A Magic Hour with the Trees
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.
Find out more »Fall Color Long Hike
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.
Find out more »Magic Hour Hike to the Kentucky River
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.
Find out more »November 2019
Elk Lick Falls, the Kentucky River Fault, and the Evolution of the Kentucky River Gorge: A Geologist’s Perspective
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.
Find out more »Thanksgiving Eve Long Hike
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.
Find out more »December 2019
Winter Birds, Christmas Bird Count, & eBird: A Citizen Science Workshop
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.
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