It is always exciting to hear about a new greenspace opening to the public close to home and that was the case when a fellow nature blogger mentioned the 104 acre Brushy Fork Nature Preserve to me. It is managed by the Kenton Conservancy, whose mission is to preserve greenspace in Kenton County, Kentucky, with an emphasis on improving the Banklick Creek watershed. This essay is the compilation of two visits to this preserve, the first was in September 2023, and the second was this month – a little over three years since our initial visit. I did not publish the essay after our first visit as the Kenton Conservancy asked me to wait until after their official grand opening and additional trail signage was place. The essay sat in my queue until the photographer’s recent knee injury necessitated bringing it to life.
The parking area and trailhead for the preserve is unique in that it is accessed between two houses in a new housing development in Independence, Kentucky. There is a nice information kiosk at the trailhead that I do not believe was there when we visited three years ago.
The trail leaves the parking area and heads downhill on what appears to be a utility easement. It passes through a field in succession with small trees and shrubs as well as some colorful, fall-flowering meadow plants:
Knotweed and Goldenrod
Brown-eyed Susans, Snakeroot).
Signage on the trails at the time of our first visit was minimal so when we found ourselves in the valley, and met our first intersection, we developed a plan to always take a right as that would take us around the perimeter of the property. The path wove through a meadow that featured several species of Goldenrod.
The most striking feature was the swarm of large dragonflies that were sweeping above us. Their bodies were much larger than most dragonflies, but unfortunately they did not stop to allow us to get a photo or to identify them. Dragonflies of course are harmless and are welcomed as they feed on mosquitoes.
Soon we found ourselves on the banks of Brushy Fork which outlines the eastern border of the preserve. It had been a dry August and early September so the water was not flowing. Compare this photo with the title photo, which was taken in about the same location three years and one month later, when fall leaves are adding to the color palate.
The trail then wove through a young wood and entered another meadow which again bordered on the creek.
After the meadow we came upon an older wood that could be described as secondary growth – it was not “old growth” but did look mature. During my October 2026 visit the fall color made the entry into the wood enticing.
The yellows of the Sugar Maples were the dominant fall color.
The canopy of the wood was held high.
In the deep shade we noted this small American Toad amongst the leaf litter.
The trail passed through a Pawpaw thicket. Pawpaws can reproduce by seed, but the thickets are really the result of new trees developing off the root system of an established plant, and each tree in a Pawpaw patch is genetically identical to the parent plant. So in reality, a Pawpaw thicket is one large organism. Pawpaws have one of the largest leaves of the eastern forest. The Pawpaw is not self pollinating so a pollinating insect, which are primarily carrion flies, needs to bring in pollen from an unrelated tree. I believe this is one reason why you frequently see Pawpaw patches with no developing fruit.
In this wooded valley we started seeing the peeling bark of some hickories.
A glance up into the canopy revealed this compound leaf – compound leaves have multiple leaflets. In this case the leaf has 7 leaflets which tells me that this is a Shellbark Hickory, as compared to its sister, Shagbark Hickory, which also has peeling bark, but 5 leaflets. Below I have circled a single leaf that has 7 leaflets.
Nearby we came across this leaf on the forest floor, from a Bur Oak, one of my favorite trees. It is a member of the White Oak Family. Often these leaves are comparatively large, up to 10 inches in length.
They have large acorns whose cap is rimmed with “burs” and nearly covers the entire nut. The scientific name for Bur Oak is Quercus macrocarpa. Macrocarpa basically means “large fruit”, referencing the size of its acorns.
Compare that to this acorn cap which sits atop a standard size Red Oak acorn.
To be honest, on my most recent visit I had trouble following the mapped trail at the most distant part of the loop, which is the area circled in purple on the map below. After climbing a small hill out of the creek valley I did not see where the trail continued on. Time was tight for an appointment so I doubled back along the red trail and exited along the the longer yellow trail. If I have time I will return to see if I can find the trail as mapped. If not, I plan on participating in an upcoming trail work day at the preserve, set for 10/29, to see if we can make the route clearer.
The final leg of the hike is the return to the parking area after completing the large loop. This is a relatively steep and somewhat long grade and may prohibit some kids. Only a small portion of this segment is shown in the photo below.
Some of the floral stars of fall hikes are the asters. Here we saw New England Aster, whose petal color varies from light pink to the deep purple noted here,
and the softer, near white, Frost Aster. These are also sometimes called Ghost Aster due to their association with the Halloween season.
This plant caught our attention due to its resemblance to culinary Rosemary. It is Lespedeza, a plant that was imported from Europe for use as farm forage.
Sneezeweed is another fall blooming plant from the aster family. Historically it was dried and used as snuff, which was inhaled up the nose and caused sneezing. Some previous cultures felt that the process of sneezing helped remove bad spirits or “humours” from a body, which would be good for one’s health. The identifying features are the heavy branching that leads to a dense cluster of flowers, and the flower petals that are three lobed at the tip.
We also saw a few specimens of our old friend Trefoil, with its flower that looks like a cartoon character.
Finally, a discussion on two plants that look very similar in the field – Snakeroot and Boneset.
They can be most easily differentiated by how their leaves attach to the plant. Snakeroot leaves have a petiole that tapers down to attach to the stem, whereas the Boneset leaf bases meet at the stem to encircle it.
Historical Note – One interesting story of the property is outlined at the trailhead kiosk. The map to the left below is from 1955 and the orange circle indicates the location of a railroad tunnel that was present at that time, where the rail line entered the current site of the preserve from the north. To the right of the circle one can see an oxbow loop of Banklick Creek. This is near where Brushy Fork flowed into the larger Banklick Creek. In 1962, the railroad removed the tunnel and raised the rail line. At that time they rerouted Banklick Creek to remain on the west side of the railway, which allowed them to maintain one less bridge. It also shortened the course of the creek by about a mile. The map on the right is from 2019 and the oxbow loop of Banklick Creek is no longer present. As one walks the bottomland of the preserve one can see a depression in the terrain where a section of the oxbow once was. It is now a wetland in the center of the Brushy Fork Preserve, and is home to some unique plants. Brushy Fork creek now extends further, running in part of the remnant Banklick Creek channel. It eventually runs beneath the rail line and joins the rerouted Banklick Creek. The rail line makes up the western border of much of the preserve.
In summary, Brushy Fork Nature Preserve is a great addition to the public greenspace of Northern Kentucky and is a fun hike. It offers several different habitats including meadow, running stream, wetland, and mature deciduous woodland. Its generous size makes it more than a pocket park and broadens its appeal to wildlife. In my opinion, it is one of the best woodland hikes in Northern Kentucky. Footpaths looks forward to additional hikes here. I think that a winter hike could be especially fun due to ice formations in the creek and birding in the mature wood.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Patrick Burns.
Overview:
Location – 10463 Canberra Drive, Independence, KY, 15 miles from downtown Cincinnati. The driveway to the parking lot is between two suburban homes.
Parking – gravel lot for about 10 cars. There is a small cable that crosses the entry drive. It can be lifted off the post to enter the parking area. It appears that it functions as a mount for a sign telling visitors not to park on the concrete part of the drive, which would block trail access for everyone else and emergency vehicles.
Trail Conditions – bare dirt in the woods and mowed grass through the field.
Map Link – none, take a photo of the map at the trailhead.
Benches – one is built into the trailhead kiosk.
Picnic Tables – none.
Kids – 6 and older should do well here.
Dogs – welcomed on a leash.
Suggested Paired Hikes – None
Links
:https://www.kentonconservancy.org/brushy-fork-nature-preserve.html