We were approaching the five year anniversary of Footpaths – it is hard to comprehend – publishing a weekly article on our experiences with nature, which now total over 260 articles. Most are about our outings on hiking trails – interpreting the setting and the ecology that we were seeing. The majority are about hikes within two hours of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, our home base, but others were from wherever we found ourselves in the world, enjoying the beauty of nature. Some articles were more targeted, covering topics that we found interesting and thought others would as well. It’s been an outstanding ride and a great retirement hobby.
For Footpaths fifth anniversary, which was mid-September, I thought that it would be appropriate to return to our roots. I came up with the idea of Footpaths just a few months before my retirement, while reading an outstanding coffee table book titled Kentucky’s Last Great Places. As I read it, I knew that I had to find the time to visit these unique preserves and habitats, and the first Footpaths article covered a hike at Pine Creek Nature Preserve, a Nature Conservancy property that was mentioned in the book. As I read the book, I jotted down other preserves that promised habitats that I had never seen – one was Hazeldell Meadow – another Nature Conservancy property. It remained on our working list all this time. It was a little outside of our 2 hour drive, day trip limit, but I thought that the five year anniversary called for special effort.
As we drove, our daughter Caroline, the stand-in photographer for the outing, was reading online narratives about the preserve, mentioning that the University of Kentucky, as well as Texas Tech, conduct field research there. We could only hope that it lived up to our expectations.
Hazeldell Meadow is located in the Highland Rim, a raised geographic region that encircles Tennessee’s Central Basin that includes present day Nashville, extending from South Central, Kentucky, to Northern Alabama. The Rim is characterized by nutrient poor soils, a clay subsoil, and a limestone base. The clayey subsoil inhibited drainage and resulted in areas of wetland despite an elevated terrain.
From the parking area we headed into a unique wood – we were not in a lowland, but the forest smelled of wetland. The trees confirmed that – wetland species – Red Maple, Tupelo, Walnut, American Beech, and Sweetgum. It was a dark forest with a dense canopy, with a minimum of light hitting the forest floor, resulting in a sparse understory.
We could not find an online trail map but noted this on the signage at the trailhead. The blue lines outline the property and the yellow ovals are the trails. The light area within the first oval is the meadow itself.
One surprise that we noted early was an abundance of American Holly, a small evergreen tree, dispersed throughout the understory. Usually they occur as sporadic specimens on a landscape.
As we walked the first loop trail, which was gravel, we could see the two acre wet meadow through the trees that bordered it. Eventually we noted a bare dirt trail that opened onto the meadow.
We stepped into the meadow, which was a mix of flowering plants, grasses, sedges, shrubs, and small trees.
We excitedly called out some of the unique plants that we were noting. Without a doubt, our favorite was the Orange Fringe Orchids that were nestled in amongst the larger plants, at about knee height. We have an affinity for the orchids found in the temperate habitats.
We also noted some other flowering specimens, including both white and pink forms of Meadow Beauty,
as well as Flat-topped Aster, an aster that prefers moist ground.
Pale-spiked Lobelia, while uncommon in most of Kentucky, is frequently seen in prairie patches around Lake Cumberland.
Steeplebush is a small shrub that is a member of the Spirea family. It is somewhat rare in Kentucky but is most often found in wet meadows.
Amongst the grasses and forbs were some small trees and shrubs. One was Black Chokeberry, which I believe was the first time that we identified it in the wild in Kentucky. It is an excellent native flowering shrub to add to your garden.
But the trail tapered off quickly, and for the most part became non-existent. Nearby we noted some markers that were probably part of the ongoing research in the meadow.
At this point, without much of a trail, we felt like we were trespassing, and after being in the meadow for less than twenty yards, decided that we should return to the gravel trail.
Back on the trail we again found ourselves in a dark, open wood.
To either side of the trail was evidence of the seasonally dry wetland, with leaf litter that had the appearance of having spent some time submerged in water.
We followed the gravel path and when we got to the far side of the oval trail we noted signage that limited entrance into the wet meadow. Interestingly it was not present on the entry side of the preserve. Our instinct to withdraw from the meadow was the correct one.
We continued on the loop until we returned to the entrance path. We had somehow missed the origin of the further loop and decided that we should repeat our passage on the closer loop. Eventually we noted the entrance to the other loop, which was a lightly worn bare dirt path. It was not well marked, but we did note an occasional plastic ribbon tied to lower tree branches.
New York Fern was a common understory plant in this section of the wood.
The New York Fern has a balanced, delicate appearance and round sori, which contain the spores, on the underside of the frond.
Another frequent sighting was the diminutive Patridge Berry, with its single, prominent red fruit. These are a favorite of game birds, like Bob White Quail and Ruffed Grouse.
In this same area, Yellow Chanterelle mushrooms added a burst of color to the forest floor.
As one would expect in a wetland, a variety of mosses were present.
Odds and Ends:
This Eastern Box Turtle caught our interest. It was small, easily fitting into the palm of my hand. The prominent yellow coloration made it appear somewhat atypical. There are tremendous variations in the color patterns of this species.
We often hear the Eastern Wood PeeWee more than we see it. With a diet of primarily flying insects, they are often seen perching on dead twigs, awaiting their prey to fly by. This behavior is termed sallying or hawking.
New Plant of the Day – this plant immediately intrigued us when we saw it – American Climbing Fern. It was growing in the wood on the edge of the meadow, where more sunlight reached the understory. It had two clearly different types of leaves. I initially thought that it was two different vines, but when I traced them back they were clearly the same specimen. So yes, a fern that is a vine. This is the only climbing fern native to the U.S. and is considered rare, threatened, or endangered in much of its native range. It is found in the states of the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida, but primarily in the Appalachian Mountains. There are an additional 39 species of climbing fern in the world, but they are all tropical. Because it was evergreen, historically it was used for Christmas decorations, which led to over harvesting.
The smaller leaf is actually the the reproductive structure of the plant, and if you look closely you can see the demarcation of the sori, the spore containing structures that appear as small, pale ovals on the smaller leaves.
In summary, it was fun to walk this unique habitat with Caroline – another scientist, one trained to observe and ponder. To be clear, we would have never entered the meadow if the “Fragile Habitat – Area Closed” signs were present on the entry side of the preserve. We share an ecological morality – “land ethic” in the words of famed ecologist Aldo Leopold, and would never purposefully doing anything that could harm a habitat. It is interesting that our gut feeling about being in the meadow was correct. As for the hike, it would be hard to say what I was most excited to see – the Orange Fringe Orchid or the American Climbing Fern, both of which were new to me. If forced to answer, I would say the American Climbing Fern, as it is so unique in our North American habitats. But what really made this outing special was to share this legacy Nature Conservancy property, with Caroline. It drove home the importance of the Nature Conservancy’s work – their ability to identify unique, threatened habitats, and to act swiftly to protect them, then eventually transfer ownership to other organizations who can manage them for the public to enjoy. In this case the preserve is owned by the Pulaski County Fiscal Court and the Nature Conservancy provides land management expertise. The conundrum at Hazeldell Meadow is that its most unique feature, the fragile habitat of the wet meadow, is by necessity off limits to the casual visitor. How does one allow for appreciation of the meadow and the rare plants that call it home, while still protecting it? Boardwalks are not the answer as periodic prescribed burns are needed to maintain the wet prairie and to prevent intrusion of tree and shrub species. Perhaps some collections of openings on the woodland edge would be enough to allow visitors to glimpse the outstanding botany that is present.
I delayed publishing this article while awaiting a conversation with botanist Dr. Julian Campbell, who was out of the country. He was integral to the Nature Conservancy’s acquisition of the property in the 1990s and has been a long term advocate for its protection. In our conversation he excitedly listed the many rare plant species that are found here. He told me that the 39 acre preserve is a small remnant of an expansive collection of glade habitats that were present in the area historically. He noted seeing a map of the area from the 1700s that had the term “glades” across this section of South Central Kentucky. Unfortunately, nearly all of them had been drained for agriculture over the years, making the protection of this site, and the rare species noted here, even more critical. Dr. Campbell has invited me to join him, as well as other botanists from UK and Berea College who have conducted research at Hazeldell Meadow, on a visit to the meadow in the near future, which would truly be an exciting field day.
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Photo credits to Caroline Burns Grizzle.
Overview
Parking – Gravel lot for 12 plus cars.
Facilities – none.
Trail Conditions – the closer loop is gravel and and the further loop bare dirt. It is absolutely flat.
Print Map – none, take a photo at the trailhead.
Benches – none noted.
Kids – Kids 4 and over would do well.
Dogs – prohibited.
Suggested Paired Hikes – we paired this hike with a visit to the Berea College Forest which was 32 miles away.
Links:
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/hazeldell-meadow/
https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Locations/Pages/Hazelldell-Meadow.aspx