Hiking the Upper Cove was not the plan. In fact, we had hoped to hike in the lowland wetlands of Cove Spring Park, along the Penitentiary Branch waterway – a birding hotspot with the promise of Wood Ducks and other wetland species. But when we arrived we found that the entire parking lot for the Wetlands Trail had become a staging area for an ongoing, thirty month, sewer system repair project.
With me sulking, and us behind schedule, we decided to walk a collection of trails that form a loop in the Upper Cove area of the park – Sky Trail, Old Farm Lane Trail, Peak’s Mill Trail, and Osage Trail. They did not appear to have the promise of the Wetland Trail, but we decided to accept what nature would deliver.
The formal Cove Spring Park consists of two areas, the Lower Cove which is on the former site of the first Frankfort Waterworks that started in 1804, and the Upper Cove, which includes the former 130 acre Fincel family farm, that was purchased in the 1990s with funds from Kentucky’s Heritage Land Conservation Grant program. So in a sense these two areas could be considered a “preserve” – as much a preserve of Frankfort history, as the nature that now calls it home. In addition, there is the less formal Wetlands area that we were unable to hike, that is separate from the other two, but just a short drive away.
From the parking area, and the early part of the Sky Trail, there are views down onto the city of Frankfort and the Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Our outing started on the Sky Trail, which is a 0.6 mile oval, paved, all-persons trail. It encircles a large meadow that appears to function as a picnic lawn in the mowed area, and as a wildflower field in the remainder.
It was early in the season but we could see some potential in the wildflowers noted in the meadow. First we noted some milkweed starting to develop flowerheads. Unfortunately, I did not take the time to identify the milkweed to species.
We were excited to see these tiny fellows feeding on the milkweed – two, half inch long Monarch Butterfly caterpillars. The first that we have seen this season.
On this view you can appreciate the hole that the caterpillar on the left has chewed into the leaf. Chemicals in the plant tissues make the caterpillars toxic and unpalatable to predators.
Also in the wildflower meadow we noted Tufted Vetch. While it is not a native wildflower, its presence here may call back to the days of the Fincel farm. Tufted Vetch a member of the pea family, is native to Europe and Asia, and was brought to this country in the 1880s due to its ability to take nitrogen from the air and deposit in the soil – a quality termed “nitrogen fixation” – basically a living fertilizer. It was planted in hay fields to improve soil and to provide forage for livestock.
At the far end of the loop Sky Trail enters a young wood,
but at times offered views back onto the meadow.
In this area we suddenly noted a delightfully sweet, clean scent on the breeze. It took us a couple of minutes until we found the source – a small grouping of Honeysuckle Vine in bloom – again not native, and yes a bit invasive, but one understands why the scent is mimicked in commercial products. Honeysuckle Vine is much more aromatic than Bush Honeysuckle.
Nearby we noted Aromatic Sumac. It is a cousin of Poison Ivy and Poison Sumac and has similar leaves. It however is not toxic, and in fact, the red berries are edible and very high in Vitamin C. If the leaf is crushed, it has a pleasant citrusy scent. We saw Aromatic Sumac throughout the remainder of the hike. Note the fuzziness of the berries.
We left Sky Trail to enter onto the Old Farm Lane, another throwback to the property’s agricultural past. It was a rolling path with exposed gravel. I could not help but to envision the numerous people who walked and rode on this pathway as they squeezed a livelihood out of this soil.
Interestingly, this hardscrabble path hosted a couple of surprising wildflowers. The first was Slender-flowered Beardtongue, which is considered rare. It is more often found in Western Kentucky.
We also noted Lyre-leaved Sage. Although my field guides describe this as common, I believe that it was the first time that the photographer and I have identified it. An unique feature is the whorl of secondary leaves that arises from its flower stem (see arrow in first photo below). Lyre-leaved Sage is also pictured in the title photo.
The lane passed through a progression wood, suggesting that in the past the area was pasture and is now home to maturing pioneer species, the first to grow in vacant or disturbed soil. One surprise was a grouping of very tall Spicebushes on the right, that seemed to be thriving in the sunlight.
Eventually the Old Farm Lane delivered us to a derelict, multi-use barn. While it had features of a typical Kentucky tobacco barn, it also had a section of basement that appeared to be used to shelter cattle – an unusual feature for tobacco barns.
Architecturally it was an interesting mix, having base structures and a partial basement of concrete, but large posts that appeared to be Redcedar that had been harvested from the property.
The texture of the foundation showed that it was formed with boards laid horizontally. That observation led me to do a little research, which would suggest that the barn was built between the 1880s and early 1960s. Starting in 1960, foundations were set with vertical supporting structures.
In a meadow outside the barn we noted a beautiful grouping of Oxeye Daisies.
Here the photographer captured a couple of pollinators visiting the daisies, undoubtedly her favorite wildflower.
Rugged Flower Weevils are members of the Beetle Family. Their primary food source is pollen from flowers of the Aster Family, with Oxeye Daisy being a favorite.
Orange-legged Furrow Bee is a sweat bee that originated in Europe and Asia. It is felt that they migrated to North America naturally via the land bridge at the Bering Strait when ocean levels were low.
In this meadow we also saw a Pipevine Swallowtail visiting some of the Lyre-leaved Sage. The Pipevine is one of the rarer Swallowtails in the Eastern U.S.
When we got to the Peak’s Mill Trail we noted a shy Zebra Swallowtail tucked into a shrub in the understory.
While the Oxeye Daisy, is beautiful, it is not native to the U.S. Our native daisies are, in fact, the Fleabanes. This is the Philadelphia Fleabane, the only one that flowers in the spring. Each flower has approximately one hundred rays (petals).
From the Peak’s Mill Trail we transitioned onto the Osage Trail which would take us back to the Sky Trail. The following images are of the same Skipper butterfly from two directions. Note the detail of the antennae and the eye disc.
Once back on the Sky Loop Trail we noted one of our favorite native flowers in the understory, perhaps twenty feet away – Columbine.
Common but not Common – in the parking lot we had the unique opportunity to study a Tulip-poplar blossom at eye level. Usually they are well above our heads in the canopy, but a prolific young tree allowed for close observation. It is easy to see where they get the moniker “tulip” from.
In summary, while our visit to Cove Spring Park did not go as planned, we still had an excellent outing on a beautiful spring day. The two wildflowers that were new to us on the Old Farm Lane were exciting. In addition, the unusual barn design added an unexpected item to contemplate and ponder, mixing a little history into our experience. To be honest, whenever I find myself on “heritage” lands, I always want to know more about the family. How many generations farmed here? How many children went off to war from this homestead, and if so, to which wars? What vocations, other than farming, has the family moved on to? I tried to do some quick research into the Fincel family from Frankfort, Kentucky without much success, other than one Hazel Fincel who was incorrectly declared dead in the ER in 1994, when she was suffering from hypothermia after a fall outside her home. It is a lesson in the classic medical directive that, “Nobody is dead until they are warm and dead”. It is unclear if she was from the farm family or not. The photographer and I will be back to hike the wetlands, the description of the the habitat and its flora and fauna is too much to pass up.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – 100 Cedar Cove Road, Frankfort, KY 40601. It is 78 miles south of downtown Cincinnati.
Parking – large asphalt lot.
Facilities – Portolets at the parking area.
Trail Conditions – the Sky Trail is asphalt. The other trails were impacted gravel or bare dirt.
Print Map Link – none. Photograph the map at the trailhead.
Benches – some noted on the Sky Trail but not on the remainder of our hike.
Picnic Tables – many noted at the shelter.
Kids – kids 4 and over should do well.
Dogs – allowed on a leash.
Suggested Paired Hikes – There are several other trails offering a range of challenges. All total there are 6 miles of trails including one through a wetland that was closed at the time of our visit due to a sewer project.
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