It was a drab, overcast day and the Ohio River Valley had received months worth of rain over four days and the waterways were flooded. As a result, the hiking trails that feature spring ephemeral wildflowers, the lure that gets us outdoors this time of year, were largely impassable. With that reality in mind, we opted for a visit to Louisville’s Parklands of Floyds Fork, a masterpiece of public green space on the eastern outskirts of metro Louisville, that offers a wide variety of trails and habitats.
This would be Footpaths fourth visit to the Parklands, and each has been unique. The Parklands of Floyds Fork is really a conglomerate of 4 parks – Beckley Creek, Pope Lick, Turkey Run, and Broad Run, that are positioned along the path of Floyds Fork Creek. They are connected by wildlife corridors and the Louisville Loop, a nineteen mile multipurpose paved trail that runs the length of the Parklands, from Shelbyville Road in the north, to Bardstown Road in the south.
The safe path given the weather was the Sky Meadow Trail as it is paved and atop a ridge. Then, if passable, we would venture onto the bare dirt Pawpaw Trail that arose off Sky Meadow, that, at least at its start, would be on high ground. The hope was that the Pawpaw Trail, which weaves through Turkey Run Forest, would give us an opportunity to see some spring ephemeral wildflowers, something that we had not enjoyed this year due to travel and the wet weather.
The Sky Meadow trailhead is at the aptly named Boulder Pond. It was clearly a cattle pond on this former farm. The boulders appear to be of Louisville Limestone that you often see on exposed cuts along the interstate. The characteristic finding of Louisville Limestone is the substantial thickness of the specimens.
After leaving Boulder Pond, the Sky View Trail wove through a mixed habitat of progression woods, that featured Redcedar, and grasslands. Progression woods are the young woods that develop on land such as old farm fields or construction sites when they are left unmaintained. The land is “progressing” toward being forested. Tree species commonly seen in progression woods include Redcedar, Sumac, Black Locust, Redbud, and Ashes.
Eventually Sky Meadow Trail met and overlapped with the Louisville Loop Trail mentioned earlier. It is a wider trail that is utilized by walkers, runners, and bikers. The plan is for the Loop to eventually encircle Louisville to form a 90 mile path, hence the mile marker noting 60.7 miles.
The Loop offered excellent vistas including this one that looked upon a remnant foundation of an old dairy barn.
We were on the Loop for about 1/3rd of our hike, before the well marked Sky Meadow Trail broke off again. Much of this Loop section wove through pockets of prairie grasses and forbs which would make this an outstanding hike on an August or September morning or evening.
The Sky Meadow Trail also takes you past Duck Pond, another repurposed cattle pond. It was larger than Boulder Pond.
Once we were back on the Sky Meadow Trail, Redcedar again took on a bigger role. I like to stroll through cedar thickets to search for the diminutive Screech and Saw-whet owls that like to perch in them.
Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the Sky View Trail is when it delivers you to Sky Dome – an open prominence that gives near 360 degree views onto the surrounding valleys and ridgetops.
In this photo you can see the Brown-Forman silo atop another ridge in Turkey Run Park.
The amateur naturalist in me wants to revisit this area during prairie season as it appeared to host nutrient poor soil and exposed rock characteristic of a cedar barren or short grass prairie. Barrens characteristically have unique and rare plants.
Shortly after our stay at the Sky Dome, we found ourselves at the trailhead for the Pawpaw Trail. As expected, it was wet with spring water seeping out of the ground and across the trail in many places, but easily passable due to the exposed rock and sandy soils. As we had hoped, Turkey Run Forest did offer a few spring wildflowers, our first of the season.
Spring Beauty – these arise from small bulbs that were eaten by Native Americans and early settlers.
Roundleaf Ragwort – being visited by an early season pollinator.
Cut-leaf Toothwort – the word segment “tooth” refers to tooth like projections that arise off the roots of these plants. The segment “wort” is just an old substitute for plant.
May Apple – which was not quite flowering yet. The photographer especially likes the umbrella effect that they have as they initially emerge through the leaf litter.
New Plant of the Day – False Garlic. We found this early on our passage into Turkey Run Forest. While it is found across the Southeastern United States, it is considered uncommon. It was just inside the open woodland and near the short grass prairie of the Sky Dome, two habitats where it thrives. With grass-like leaves and flowers held high on a leafless stem it resembles Wild Onion. In my resources I could not find a comment on why it is termed “garlic”, but it is not considered an edible plant.
When we initially launched Footpaths a goal was to comment on native trees that we encounter on our hikes and this outing, with sightings of several common species, reinforced that. The first was Eastern Redbud which we generally appreciate as a pink blur as we motor down the highway. But being on the trail allowed us to take some time and study them up close and note the unique shape of the individual flowers. When you do so you can understand why they are members of the Pea Family.
Another native tree that was profusely blooming along the Loop was Wild Plum. They tend to grow on the edge of woods or fields and are one of the species displaced by invasives like Callery Pear and Bush Honeysuckle. They had a very subtle, pleasant scent.
One tree that can always be identified by the look of its bark is the Persimmon – it looks like the back of an alligator. In my experience you see them as very isolated specimens, never really finding them in groupings like you do so many other fruiting species. This is because persimmon germination is improved after the see passes through the gut of an animal, where the seed coating is broken down. The seed is then deposited with the animal’s feces some distance from the parent plant.
This grouping of Sumacs alongside the path allowed us to appreciate their role in the ecosystem, as a food source for birds over the winter.
Late last fall, while on another hike, we photographed a cluster of fuzzy berries of sumac (first photo below). On this hike, we could see how birds had picked them clean of their berries over the winter, leaving on the skeleton of the seed head from last fall (second photo below).
Lastly, we took in this Black Cherry tree from a distance. Its raceme of flowers, as noted in the second photo below, will be replaced by a linear clusters of pea size, dark purple berries in the summer.
Odds and Ends:
Even in spring not all the color on the trail comes from flowers. We enjoyed the simple beauty of these Red Maple seeds. Of the maples seen in the Eastern U.S., the Red Maple and Silver Maple flower and set seeds in the spring, and Sugar Maple and Norway Maple do so in the fall.
The round red cane of Wild Raspberry stood out amongst the otherwise barren briar patch. Raspberries typically have ripe fruit in late June and early July, while blackberries, which have green angulated canes, ripen in late July.
Serenading us along this hike were a series of Eastern Towhees. Their name comes from their song – Tow-hee.
In summary, once again an excellent paved path gave us an opportunity to enjoy nature on a day that would have otherwise been a literal washout due to flooding. While the overcast skies made photography challenging, the Sky View Trail and Louisville Loop gave us good footing. And one thing that struck me during this hike was the signage that mentioned that the waters of Floyds Fork would eventually wind up in the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, upon reflection on my geography knowledge I knew that, but sometimes we need to be reminded how interconnected the natural world is, and what we do here in Kentucky will impact other ecosystems and communities downstream.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – 8703 Stout Road, Louisville, KY.
Parking – Asphalt lot for 12 cars.
Facilities – Portolet at trailhead.
Trail Conditions – the Sky View Trail is paved. The Pawpaw trail bare dirt with some exposed rock.
Benches – several rock slabs meant to act as benches.
Picnic Tables – a couple at the parking area, but many others throughout the park.
Print Map Link – none, take photo at the trailhead.
Kids – really no limit. This paved trail would be great way to introduce a child to nature while they are in a stroller.
Dogs – welcomed on a leash.
Suggested Paired Hikes – the nearby Wild Hyacinth Trail is longer, has more elevation change, and goes through several habitats. The Boone Bottoms Trail is flat and runs along Floyds Fork so there is a lot of interaction with the stream. See the link to our articles on the Wild Hyacinth Trail and Boone Bottoms Trail below.
Links:
https://footpathsblog.com/2023/11/19/boone-bottoms-trail-the-parklands-of-floyds-fork-louisville-ky/