Arc Exploration Days
Single Day Guided Hikes & Outings
Informal, Explorative Learning in Community
$1o/person to register
2026 Spring Calendar
Tremper Mound Vernal Pool Outing
Saturday Evening, March 28th 2026
at the Tremper Mound Preserve
An exemplary display of biodiversity in the temperate world can be found packed within small temporary freshwater pools found on warm early spring days, following periods of snow melt and rain. These small ephemeral pools are better known as vernal pools. Immediately west of Tremper Mound, a complex of large meadow vernal pools has proven year after year to be one of the most diverse and productive in the entire Arc preserve system. The day will start off inside of the Tremper Manor House at 5:00 pm with a crash-course presentation by Arc Naturalist Elijah Crabtree covering vernal pool ecology and the fascinating natural histories behind vernal pool-dependent fauna, followed by short field trip hike around Tremper Mound led by Local Historian, Emily Uldrich. At dusk, we will begin a guided exploration of the Tremper Mound vernal pools. There is no hiking during this outing.
Cliff Run Preserve Guided Hike
Friday Afternoon, April 3rd 2026
at the Cliff Run Preserve
Just north of the Rocky Fork - Paint Creek confluence, the 300-acre Cliff Run Preserve encompasses picturesque oak-hickory and beech-maple hills with luxuriant dolomite gorges draped in showy spring ephemera. Red Columbine and Miterwort are two particularly showy cliff-bound denizens that can be found in abundance here at the peak of spring. At the northwest end of the preserve, a beaver colony has engineered an impressive system of wetlands and a very large pond along a small stream draining into the upper stretches of the gorge. As part of the trail development of this preserve, the Land Stewardship team successfully constructed a floating bridge that spans the entire width of this beaver pond! Volunteer Arc Naturalists Amy Darymple and Lisa Daris will be leading this guided 2.0-mile hike starting at 1:00 pm in the Cliff Run Preserve Parking lot-Trailhead. The Cliff Run trail is moderately strenuous with elevation changes, uneven terrain, and small creek crossings.
Ohio River Bluffs Guided Wildflower Hike
Saturday Morning, April 4th 2026
at the Ohio River Bluffs Preserve
Ohio River Bluffs is a one-of-one preserve that protects what is very likely the most exceptional display of spring ephemeral wildflowers in the entire state of Ohio. The unbroken carpets of Virginia Bluebells, Dwarf Larkspur, and Blue-Eyed Mary found across the preserve’s mineral-rich forest floors are remarkable and unparalleled. Toadshade Trillium, Squirrel Corn, Bloodroot, Celandine Poppy, and Jacobs Ladder generously accentuate these awesome spectrums of blue and purple. Talented volunteer Arc Naturalists and Wilderness East Board Members, David Baker and Lexie Stevenson, will lead a guided wildflower hike through the showy 2.0 mile Ohio River Bluffs trail and its iconic bluebell displays. This is also an opportunity to see the rare Heartleaf Nettle, Urtica chamaedryoides, in flower! The group will meet at the Ohio River Bluffs Trailhead at 10:00 am. The Ohio River Bluffs trail is moderately strenuous with a narrow path along steep slopes.
Chegeree Cliffs Guided Exploration Hike
Saturday Morning, April 4th 2026
at the new Chegeree Cliffs Preserve
Chegeree Cliffs Preserve, a 110-acre preserve donated in 2025, marks an exciting preservational debut for the Arc in the state of Kentucky. This new, relatively unexplored preserve boasts impressive mississippian-age limestone cliffs, wildflower-rich talus slopes, and karst ridgetops dotted with numerous sinkholes. Arc Naturalist Elijah Crabtree will lead a guided exploration and discovery hike through the preserve’s biodiversity hotspots and record everything we find onto Inaturalist! This is a fantastic way to both learn and contribute valuable data that helps us with grants and informs our land management decisions! This is an undeveloped preserve with no hiking trails so the hiking will be strenuous and the length is undetermined, but it will be around 2 miles total. The group will meet first at the Tremper Manor House at 9:30 am and caravan 35 minutes to Chegeree Cliffs Preserve.
HNS Barrier Ridge Trail Guided Hike
Saturday Morning, May 16th 2026
at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary
Immediately south of the scenic lower stretches of the Rocky Fork Gorge, till-draped uplands gracefully ascend 400 feet above the Rocky Fork’s dolomite canyon bluffs. These sinuous slopes crest into a flat summit offering breathtaking seasonal vantages of the rolling till-plain country further north. These upland hilltops are exceptionally rich thanks to a blanket of glacial till left here over a 100,00 years ago by an especially ambitious continental ice sheet that partly penetrated the resistant Allegheny Plateau escarpment in the region. Later in spring, the hilltop hosts prolific floral displays of Great Waterleaf, Hydrophyllum appendiculatum, a biennial denizen found in rich woods across the upper Midwest. Arc Volunteer Naturalist, Amy Darmyple will be leading this 2.5 mile climb to the ridge, starting at the Appalachian Forest Museum parking lot at 10:00 am.
Sandy Springs Dunes Guided Hike
Saturday Afternoon, June 6th 2026
at the Sandy Springs Dunes Preserve
A truly fascinating habitat under Arc protection can be found in Sandy Springs along an ancient point bar deposit within the Ohio River Valley, where past climate shifts influenced the development of wind-blown sand dunes and drought-tolerant, sand-loving ecosystems. Just west of the Sandy Springs Cemetery along US Route 52, the Sandy Springs Dunes Preserve, own and managed by the Arc, continues to harbor much of this rare locality’s unique specialized diversity. This afternoon hike led by local expert naturalist John Howard, starting at 1:00 pm, will go through a population of Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia humifusa, during its seasonal flowering peak! A single bloom, once open, will only persist for the remainder of the day so it’s a real treat to see these gorgeous blooms in their quick flash of glory. Pollinators waste no time visiting them, so this is a great time to witness some diverse pollinator action as well!