Tree People - Guided Field Trips
How to Proceed: Pick a leader or destination. If the listing already has full occupancy, it will be noted as closed. Make a note of the field trip “NAME” as you will need it when you register. Each field trip will be limited to 12 people. Hikes are divided by county region. To see the exact location of hikes, click here.
Southwest
Appalachian Forest Museum - Highlands Nature Sanctuary
County: Highland
Leaders: Ann Geise & Teri Gilligan
Length of Trail: Less than a mile
Difficulty: Easy
Within the forested backdrop of Highlands Nature Sanctuary, we will learn to identify trees! Our main focus will be using a tree key, along with some tree terminology, to distinguish the different tree species. For those not sure about a tree key -- it's a booklet with a series of 2-answer questions about a feature of the tree. By following the questions, you eventually come to the correct tree species. We'll learn the common features that separate the different species, and skills to use beyond this class to help unlock the mystery of trees wherever you are. Much of our class will be spent at the picnic shelter at the museum, where we'll work in groups to key out various tree specimens. Afterward, we will walk the grounds observing the magnificent diversity of trees and apply what we've learned. Each student will receive a printed tree key.
Location: 7660 Cave Road, Bainbridge, Ohio 45612
Ridgeview Farm & Maude's Cedar Narrows - Highlands Nature Sanctuary
County: Highland
Leaders: Brent Charette
Length of Trail:
Difficulty: Moderate
Like people and all other living things, trees have kin, with relatives scattered over the entire world. Whether you are a beginner or an intermediate tree student, learning trees in the context of their worldly associations and genealogy not only teaches you trees in a way that you'll remember them, but it increases your knowledge of plant evolution, paleobiology, plant distribution, and even continental drift! It's a great deal of fun to know, just for instance, that we have a tree in Ohio that is related to the laurels of the Mediterranean that once wreathed the heads of victors competing in Greek Games, as well as to the tree that produces avocados for our dinner salad. This is a day about learning trees through storytelling - storytelling on a world stage! Together, Ridgeview Farm and Maude's have a stunning diversity of native trees, offering a splendid theater for this course.
Blackgum Woods & God’s Country - Highlands Nature Sanctuary
County: Highland
Leaders: Tim Pohlar
Length of Trail: 1.5 Miles
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
We will be traveling through a succession of aging forests, beginning with open meadows, passing through young open-canopied forests, and ending in fully mature woodlands. In the morning we will concentrate on the transitional and forest edge habitat that is so common in Ohio, harboring a wonderful community of successional trees. As a counterpoint, in the afternoon we will walk through the old-growth forests of Black Gum Woods where we will experience the climax of the forest transition in our region - a mixed mesophytic forest filled with beeches, oaks, maples, tulip poplars, and more.
Tobacco Barn Hollow Preserve
County: Ross/Pike
Leaders: Brit Wood
Length of Trail: 1.25 Miles
Difficulty: The trail is considered moderate to difficult because of uneven terrain and gradual elevation changes.
The newly opened Rock Oak Trail in the Arc’s Tobacco Barn Hollow Preserve lies deep in the remote and highly dissected hills of the Morgan Fork Watershed, adjacent to Pike State Forest. It’s healthy, mature ridgetop forest is dominated by upland woodland species adapted to the well-drained soils lying above sandstone bedrock. Students will be taught how to distinguish oak, hickory, maple, and other species in these upland forests.
Location: 700 Ewing Road, Bainbridge OH 45612
Red Stone Farm
County: Pike
Leaders: Jacob Bartley
Length of Trail: 1-2 miles
Difficulty: moderate, may walk off trail
Red Stone Farm, a 456-acre site that includes extensive forested lands and a diversity of natural habitats. This quiet and protected landscape offers a rich environment for studying tree species in a variety of settings, from mature old-growth forests to younger successional stands.
Located in the historic Beech Flats of Pike County, Red Stone Farm provides a living classroom to explore the art of tree identification. We’ll spend the day learning how to recognize trees by their leaves, bark, shape, and growth patterns, while also observing how different tree species are distributed across the landscape.
Location: 610 Frost Rd. Hillsboro, Ohio 45133
Tremper Mound - Huckleberry Ridge - Arc Preserve
County: Scioto
Leaders: Elijah Crabtree
Length of Trail: 2.5 Miles
Difficulty: Difficult
The Tremper Mound Historical and Natural Preserve boasts a large spectrum of habitat within its 706 acres, encompassing rich riparian corridors, grasslands, marshy meadows, mesic forest slopes, and dry acidic uplands along steep, narrow ridges. Tremper Mound’s Huckleberry Ridge region is the focus of this year's field trip and it is the latest expansion of Tremper Mound, adding close to 90 acres of mature woodlands along heavily dissected toe-slopes and steep uplands that look toward the expansive and scenic Lower Scioto River Valley below. Participants of this field trip will hike the newly completed 2.5-mile Huckleberry Ridge Trail before it opens to the public in September, which gradually works through the uplands and down the neighboring tributary hollow, guiding hikers through multiple distinct tree communities along the way. Some of those communities include mesic Oak-Hickory-Beech, acidic upland Oak-Heath, and lowland/riparian corridors.
Location: 20580 SR-73, McDermott, Ohio 45663
Caesars Creek - State Park
County: Warren
Leaders: Tim Norman
Length of Trail: 3 Miles
Difficulty: Moderately Difficult
Caesars Creek, located in southwest Ohio, is a 3,741-acre State Park. We will be hiking along the Fifty Springs Loop trail, a 3.3 mile moderately difficult trail. The trail is mostly forested and meanders along the lake. Many southern Ohio trees can be found on this trail including Oaks, Maples and many more. We will discuss and see pioneer and climax forest species and keep your eye out for the Eagle! During the hike we will come upon many shelter houses along the trail. This will be a great place to take a break for lunch, or to discuss what we have seen while taking a break. Meet at the Fifty Springs Group Camping Area, located off of 73. There will be restroom facilities here.
Location: OH-73, Waynesville, Ohio 45068
Chalet Nivale
County: Adams
Leaders: Austin Newton
Length of Trail:
Difficulty:
The Arc of Appalachia’s Chalet Nivale Preserve is one of Adams County’s many spectacular natural treasures. Deeply incised stone walls and karst slopes of Silurian-Aged Dolomites provide sanctuary to some of the highest quality tributaries in the Scioto Brush Creek watershed, as well as rare botanical communities like the impressive population of Snow Trillium, Trillium nivale -The preserve’s namesake and claim to fame as one of the first major wildflower displays of the year, occurring in early March.
The alkaline, mineral-rich soils of this region and the protective nature of it’s gorge-cut streams help offer a unique look into the tree diversity of South-Central Ohio’s forests through some of our most dramatic landscapes. During this program, we will be hiking through the 1 mile Early Buttercup trail loop, covering Tree Identification skills across several different taxonomic families in a range of habitats.
Location: 1272 Bacon Flat Rd, Peebles, OH
Quiverheart Gorge
County: Adams
Leaders: Dave Baker
Length of Trail: 2.0 -miles of hiking if we take one trail, 3.5 miles if we take both.
Difficulty: Moderate to difficult. The narrow trail has been attentively improved with steps, bridges, and much manual work to level the trails. Nevertheless, the trails are rocky with several ascents and descents.
Quiverheart Gorge boasts a stunningly beautiful deep dolomite gorge in Adams County located just two miles north of the Arc’s Kamama Prairie Preserve. Quiverheart shelters rich riparian woodlands, karst country woodlands, and scattered cedar glades and prairie barrens. We will be studying the trees common to the karst landscapes - thin, well-drained alkaline soils derived from the underlying dolomite bedrocks. Such soils are usually moist in the spring and extremely dry in the summer and fall. Interesting trees and plants have adapted to these challenging conditions. This trek may require some off-trail hiking. Photo by Tim Pohlar.
Location: 2199 State Route 781, Peebles OH 45660
Wise Owl Farms
County: Ross
Leaders: Susan Zelinski & Brian Clay
Length of Trail: 2 Miles
Difficulty: Moderate
The Wise Owl Farm is a private 72-acre property in various stages of restoration. The hike starts at the native gardens around the home. It proceeds to a trail leading through a native prairie surrounding a pond brimming with natural beauty and currently the home of two resident beavers! The hike continues through a forest featuring red and white oaks, hickories, sassafras, sycamore, and a variety of maples. Much of the woods is blessed with an undergrowth of spice bush, dogwood, and paw paws. Throughout the hike, Brian and Susan are happy to share their journey returning their land to its native state throughout the different habitats on the property.
John Bryan State Park
County: Green
Leaders: Brian Lokai
Length of Trail: 2.6 Miles
Difficulty: Moderately Difficult
Within John Bryan State Park, the Pittsburgh – Cincinnati Stage Coach Trail and the South Gorge trail traverse a steep dolomite cliff valley bisected by the Little Miami River. During this hike, we will see tree species whose habitats range from dry upland ridges to riparian areas and some species associated with limestone-rich groundwater. The approximately 2.6-mile hike will focus on tree identification using buds, bark, and leaves. We will also consider the setting and forest successional state to help us identify trees. No need for a key or a book! On this hike, we will see species, describe their characteristics, and then see them again, and again! Meet at the Orton Picnic Area parking lot.
Southeast
Resilience - Arc Preserve
County: Hocking
Leaders: Rick Perkins
Length of Trail:
Difficulty: Moderate - Easy
Resilience is a 525-acre contiguous tract of land in Hocking County, less than 4 miles from Hocking Hills State Park. Resilience is mostly forested with mature woods that have not been disturbed in at least 80 years. Surveys show that there are over 25,000 trees on the property that have a diameter of 12 inches or larger. A large 80 + acre meadow in the middle of the property hosts rare nesting birds such as Henslow’s and Grasshopper sparrows. This large meadow is possibly the largest concentration of breeding pairs of Henslow’s Sparrows in the entire region. Resilience is named for its capacity to recover from years of logging and strip mining and yet once you set foot on the area, you fall in love with it. The hike will meander through woods and meadows along the newly opened Resilience Trails.
Honeycomb Rocks - Arc Preserve
County: Hocking
Leaders: Ethan King
Length of Trail: 2 Miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Honeycomb Rocks is a 281-acre preserve located in Hocking County. The preserve consists of large swaths of old-growth forests and over five miles of headwater streams. Dissecting the length of the property is a deep ravine carved out by the stream that originates just above Salt Peter Cave, the most iconic rock formation on the Honeycomb Rocks property. The preserve features three other dramatic rock features, Soaring Rock, Sentinel Wall, and the Boulder Fields.
Strouds Run - State Park
County: Athens
Leaders: Rebecca Wood
Length of Trail: 3.5 Miles
Difficulty: Moderately Difficult
The hike will begin and end near the Camp Ground located to the left before the beach area. We will meander through some beautiful mixed hardwood/conifer forest and up to a long knife's edge ridge complex with a healthy mixed-age stand and considerable herbaceous flora. From there, we will walk through the campground, the Thunder Bunny/Vista Point trail access where a small bridge crosses the stream. Once we ascend to the ridge we will pass an old Indian mound and other hints of understanding time by reading the landscape of the forest About 1/4 mile from the end of the ridge trail we will encounter Vista Point, with beautiful glimpses of the lake and then downhill past sandstone boulders, outcrops, and slump rocks. We will take our time, stop, chat, look, and listen to what the forest has to share.
Please ride share and park near the restrooms on the right side about 1/2 way down the camp ground road. Please do not block access to the maintenance or handicapped access parking.
Bring a pack lunch, water, bug juice, walking pole and hat for dun protection, though it’s shady most of the way. Lunch will be on the trail about 1/2 way through so please have it packable.
Central
Stratford Ecological Center - Nonprofit
County: Delaware
Leaders: Jeff Dickinson
Length of Trail:
Difficulty: Moderate
The Stratford Ecological Center privately owns and operates 236 acres of forest and farmland, including 95 acres in the Stratford Woods State Nature Preserve, another 65 acres of non-preserve forests, and 65 acres that serve as an educational farm that serves as the classroom for over 16,000 visitors annually. Stratford has 4 ½ miles of cleared trails highlighting a diversity of terrains. Our 160 acres of forest highlights diverse zones of species composition, from early succession, dominated by forested remnants left from forest harvests in the early 20th century, that are surrounded by numerous species of invasive plants, to later stages of succession including hickory/maple, maple/beech, and oak/hickory communities.
Welker Preserve - Private
County: Champaign
Leaders: Marilyn Welker
Length of Trail: <1 Mile
Difficulty: Easy
Bob and Marilyn live on a 3-acre property with a 3 acre pond just west of Urbana, the site of a quarry 100 years ago. Marilyn has been diligently transforming the land by removing invasive species, building soil fertility, and restoring biodiversity by planting native flora. This field trip will emphasize working with the many elements of soils, sun, shade, moisture, wildlife, and human needs to create beauty, balance, and biodiversity on once-disturbed land, with trees being the most defining element to "put it all together." This site is well suited for anyone working on a small scale to create more biodiversity in their living environment.
Miller/Eigel Preserve - Private
County: Franklin
Leaders: Marcia Miller and Kevin Eigel
Length of Trail: ~1 mile
Difficulty: Easy
Marcia and Kevin live on 160 acres just west of Columbus in the Darby Creek Watershed that was historically wet prairie before it was farmed for many years. They are in the process of returning as much of their land as possible back to native prairie, forests and wetlands. They have many mature native trees there already including a 300-year-old Swamp White Oak. They have also planted many hundreds of trees including ones learned during the very first Tree Course at the Arc of Appalachia years ago. This could be a great adventure for those who want to see native trees used in landscaping, as well as in their natural habitat.
Northeast
Hoberecht Preserve - Private
County: Lorain
Leaders: Mark Hoberecht & Judy Semroc
Length of Trail: 2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
The 43-acre BeechCliff Preserve in Columbia Station is privately-owned by the Hoberechts and protected by a conservation easement. The preserve is predominantly a mature mixed mesophytic forest with both upland and riparian areas on a bedrock of sandstone and shale. Successional woodlands, several vernal pools, and a 2-acre pond with many native aquatic species enhance the preserve's biodiversity. The small stream that meanders through the property is part of the Rocky River watershed that flows north into Lake Erie. The land offers a rich classroom for learning tree recognition skills.
Two miles are usually covered over the course of the day, one mile before lunch and another afterward. Midday, we’ll enjoy a scenic lunch by the pond at the house, where restrooms are available for your convenience.