Wildflower Pilgrimage 2026
Schedule of Events
Photo of Dwarf Larkspur by Tom Croce Photography
Saturday, April 18, 2025
7:30 am and 8:15 am – HOT BREAKFAST AT THE APPALACHIAN FOREST MUSEUM. Because parking & seating are limited, you will be assigned a breakfast service time after you register. Folks who have the farthest to drive will be scheduled on the earlier shifts. Please attend at your assigned serving time.
Menu for breakfast: Scrambled eggs with Swiss cheese, spinach and mushrooms, turkey sausage; fruit bowl with yogurt and granola; tea, & coffee. For vegan and gluten-free options, check in at the front desk when you arrive to eat and we will customize your meal.
AFTER BREAKFAST – SATURDAY FIELD TRIPS TO SOUTHERN OHIO MOST SPLENDID FLORAL SHOWCASES
A couple of months in advance of the Pilgrimage, registrants will be surveyed for their top preferences and will receive an email with confirmed field trip assignments and directions. Hikes last until mid-afternoon and will be in groups of 12 or fewer people.
5:15 pm —6:30 pm – DINNER IN THE WOODS – A PILGRIMAGE TRADITION AT THE APPALACHIAN FOREST MUSEUM.
Because parking & seating are limited, you will be assigned a breakfast service time after registering. Please attend at your assigned serving time and depart after eating so make room for others.
The menu consists of a large spinach-apple salad with our beloved herbed vinaigrette dressing; hearty vegetarian chili with optional toppings of sour cream, cheddar cheese, and green onions, and served with tortilla chips. Dessert is decadent homemade chocolate brownies and real whipped cream!
7:15 pm - 9:00 pm Presentation at the Paxton Theatre
Presentation: The Arc is in full bloom!!
Nancy Stranahan, Director of Arc of Appalachia, will give a short program about the Arc’s recent year’s sowing of MAJOR land acquisitions that, collectively, make up - BY FAR - the largest land campaign the Arc of Appalachia has ever attempted, including a nationally significant project in West Virginia and dozens of projects in Appalachian Ohio. Stay tuned for an important progress report, as well as revelations of new land projects.
Beaver - Quite Possibly North America's Most Astonishing Animal
Keynote Speaker Dr. Aaron Hall, an aquatic biologist and the Program Director for the nonprofit Beaver Institute's BeaverCorps, is traveling to Ohio from Ontario to share with us his extensive knowledge on beavers, touching on the species' natural history and ecology, as well as cultural history and human psychology. Aaron's life is deeply engaged in trying to preserve a land canvas for this powerful, dynamic animal. We will learn how beavers rose from abundance to near absence in North America, the people who helped save them, and beavers' determined resistance to being permanently extirpated. We will learn what it means to have largely lost what is a keystone species across an entire continent and how such a devastating loss unfolded in our nation's early history. People are half of the story. Aaron will be sharing stories of the complex conflicts that can occur when beavers and people try (or in many cases, when people don't try) to share common territory. His daily vocational quest, as well as his personal passion, is to help people recognize and appreciate the immense benefits beavers bring to the health and biodiversity of natural communities whenever their human neighbors are willing to accept their immense water-altering activities as the life-transforming gifts they are.
Dr. Aaron Hall serves as the Beaver Corps Program Director for the Beaver Institute. Aaron is an aquatic biologist who works to protect species in aquatic and riparian habitats, finding scientifically sound and pragmatic solutions for the threats these species face. He holds a BS and MS in Environmental Science from The Rochester Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from The University of Toronto. Aaron has a diverse background in field ecology and has worked with many species groups and in many ecosystems, having lived in Central New York, Alaska, Maine, AND Colorado. Currently residing in Ontario, Canada, Aaron's primary focus has been working with beavers by leveraging their ecosystem engineering skills to create and enhance habitat for many at-risk species, including freshwater fishes, amphibians and reptiles, shorebirds, aquatic insects, and others. He is passionate about protecting the delicate balance of the natural environment in an increasingly human-influenced world. Aaron is an avid outdoors person and enjoys hiking, canoeing, camping, birding, disc golf, woodworking, board games, and gardening. Contact: aaron@beaverinstitute.org
Sunday, April 19, 2025
7:30 am and 8:15 am – HOT BREAKFAST AT THE APPALACHIAN FOREST MUSEUM.
Because parking & seating are limited, you will be assigned a breakfast service time after you register. Please attend at your assigned serving time. Menu for breakfast: Beer pancakes with butter & syrup, turkey sausage, and fruit cups of bananas, apples, dates and walnuts drenched in orange juice.
AFTER BREAKFAST – SUNDAY FIELD TRIPS TO SOUTHERN OHIO’S MOST SPLENDID FLORAL SHOWCASES
Hikes last until mid-afternoon. Be sure to check out of your respective lodges before departing on your hikes. Drive safely home, or linger to hike on your own. The Sanctuary trails are open until sunset. We are happy to provide you with a trail map.
Friday, April 17, 2026
9:30 am – 6:30 pm – OPTIONAL CHECK-IN AT THE APPALACHIAN FOREST MUSEUM.
Stop by, say hello, and pick up your name tag and any destination directions you are missing. If you have time, come earlier in the day and enjoy some quiet hiking on the Sanctuary’s 16 miles of floral-laden trails, many of which are worthy floral destinations but are not included among the Pilgrimage field trip offerings —OR— choose from one of the options below.
TWO FRIDAY PROGRAM OFFERINGS TO CHOOSE FROM:
NEW TO THE PILGRIMAGE? We highly recommend the indoor programs listed below.
2:00 pm – Welcome/Orientation to the Arc of Appalachia & Highlands Nature Sanctuary. Meet at the Museum.
If this is your first time visiting the Highlands Nature Sanctuary and you’re new to the Wildflower Pilgrimage, please join us for an introduction/orientation to the Arc of Appalachia’s wildlands preservation work, the remarkable natural history and stunning scenery of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, and visitor services in the area.
3:00 pm – Making the most of iNaturalist this weekend. Meet at the Museum.
iNaturalist is a powerful tool that helps you improve your nature identification skills, builds community for nature lovers, and provides valuable data to help us track species across our preserves. The Arc will be setting up an iNaturalist Project for the pilgrimage where you can share photos that you take during the weekend and see everyone else’s observations. If you are new to iNaturalist and need help getting started, we will be dividing people up into groups of ten or fewer, and getting hands-on demonstrations on how to use the program on your own phone. Just be sure to download iNaturalist, and Seek by iNaturalist on your phone ahead of time. Click here for detailed step-by-step instructions to get started.
4:00 pm – Presentation: ”Why southern Ohio is quite arguably one of the best floral destinations in the world” – Meet at the Museum.
Now is that claim mere theatrical exaggeration or is it actually a true statement? We will be finding out! You will learn the magic of karst landscapes and why they are so often epicenters of floral showcases, and you will also learn the unique combination of the geological, physiological, and anthropological factors that converged in this corner of the world to make this region so floristically special.
BEEN HERE BEFORE? We have several field trips to some of the Arc’s most amazing beaver-impacted landscapes that you can choose from.
Details to be posted soon.
7:15 pm - 9:00 pm Presentation at the Paxton Theatre
Ohio's Wetlands - Going, Going, Gone
Nancy Stranahan, Arc of Appalachia Director, will share how most of us in modern-day Ohio - even some of our region's most knowledgeable naturalists and biologists - suffer from "wetlands amnesia." Ohio, once considered a wetlands state, has been so thoroughly drained, and drained so long ago, that most of us cannot comprehend the immensity of what we have lost. In this short presentation, you will learn about our region's most invisible natural community, and what we can do to bring wetlands back to both our consciousness and our landscapes.
Beaver 101 - I 2025 the Indomitable Beaver delivered the Arc a Clear Message: "You are not in charge!"
Ethan King, Land Stewardship Manager at the Arc's new Regional Hub stationed in Hocking County, will tell the story of how Arc staff members have recently (and involuntarily) come under the instruction of a master engineer, the Beaver. You will learn how effectively beavers are transforming the biodiversity of the natural communities in our Arc preserves, and how inevitable it is that emancipated beavers run up against the resistance of neighboring landowners. Ethan has a bushel of stories to share - some of woe, some humorous, but all of them demonstrations of beavers’ remarkable restoration skills. Here at the Arc of Appalachia, we are pronouncing 2025 as the inception year of our beaver-driven curriculum, while 2026 is hereby announced as the "Year of the Beaver," a year in which we pass on our education to others. As you will see by the program's end, Beavers' greatest gift to humanity can be boiled down to simply two things - the cultivation of humanity's humility and an invitation for us to become contributing community members - two very un-American traits, may we say!!