Arc Exploration Days
Single Day Guided Hikes & Outings
Informal, Explorative Learning in Community
$1o/person to register
2026 Summer Calendar
Resilience Woods Henslow Sparrows: Guided Birding with John Watts & Rick Perkins
Saturday Morning 9:00 AM, June 6th 2026
at the Resilience Woods Preserve
Henslow Sparrows are a rare, small, cryptic species, with a notoriously secretive presence in large expanses of dense grassy-forb meadows, old pasturelands, and hayfields, across a limited breeding range in the upper midwest-northeast United States. Unsurprisingly, the Henslow Sparrow eludes even the experienced birders. This June 6th, Saturday at 9:00 am, Arc Board President, Rick Perkins & Henslow Expert, John Watts, will lead a guided birding hike on the 1.52 mile Grasshopper Ridge Trail Loop, walking through old surface mine reclamations that exist today as open grassy-forb meadow across rolling hilltops. Here you can find one of the largest Henslow Sparrow Populations in the state! Don’t forget to bring your binoculars!
Quiverheart Evening Guided Hike
& Firefly Outing
Friday Evening 7:00 PM, June 19th 2026
at the Quiverheart Gorge Preserve
Join the Arc Outreach Coordinator, Kim Baker, along with her partner and Wilderness East Board President, Dave Baker, at the Quiverheart Gorge Preserve for this summer evening guided hike on the scenic 2.0 mile Quiverheart Falls Trail starting at 7:00 PM, followed by a 9:00 PM firefly watching session back at the trailhead-parking lot! In southern Ohio, fireflies reach a climax of activity and species diversity by Mid-Late June, with astoundingly intense light displays in the right habitats. If you were hoping to join this year’s Firefly weekend program at Tremper Mound, Here is another great opportunity to witness peak firefly displays at one of our most treasured southern preserves!
PHOTO BY BRIAN PROSEThis event is FULL.
Please email Elijah to be added to the waiting list.
Old Growth Mothing: Fort Hill Earthworks
Friday Night 10:00PM, July 3rd, 2026
at the Fort Hill Earthworks (With Optional Camping)
Join Naturalist Elijah Crabtree and Naturalist Dave Ackerman for a full night of mothing at the Fort Hill Earthworks main parking lot-trailhead starting at 10:00 pm! 2-3 light sheets will be stationed throughout the grounds surrounding the parking lot. If you’ve never mothed before and are interested in attending our big Mothapalooza weekend event in mid-July, this is a slightly earlier and more personal/intimate mothing event for just one night that will give you an opportunity to “test the waters”. We highly recommend that participants arrive just before dusk, around 9:00 pm or earlier, instead of arriving right at 10:00 pm in the dark.
Arc Drone Photography Feature Talk
with Brian Prose
Saturday Afternoon 10:00 AM, July 11th, 2026
at the Whispering Springs Education Center
Brian Prose is a long-time Scioto County native with deep family roots, and an unparalleled admiration for the unbroken expanses of forested hillscapes that characterize the region. Brian, who has a professional day job, somehow manages to also wear the hat of an exceptional drone photographer in his personal time. He captures stunning perspectives of our landscapes that few ever have the privilege of seeing, including many of our Arc Preserves. Join us at the Whispering Springs Education Center on Cave Road, Saturday, July 11th at 10:00 AM, where Brian will present and talk about some of his drone photography work across the Arc Preserve System and surrounding regions. Address and directions will be provided to registrants by email.
