Prairie Plants in Bloom: Miami Whitewater Forest, Shaker Trace

Theme: Prairie Plants in Bloom

Location: Miami Whitewater Forest, Shaker Trace

Date: Saturday July 29, 2023

Meet: At 10:00 A.M. at the University of Cincinnati Center for Field Studies parking lot located at 11053 Oxford Road. See directions below.

Trip Leader: Conover, (513) 390-0863, conovedg@hotmail.com

The focus of this trip will be on the prairie & wetland plant communities at the Shaker Trace. Many of the prairie wildflowers will be in bloom blanketing the grassland in spectacular color. In 1992, Great Parks of Hamilton County began a native prairie and wetland restoration project of several hundred acres at Miami Whitewater Forest.  The project has been a great success and today over 500 acres of a native grassland and wetland community is preserved. Often referred to as the Miami Whitewater wetlands, the entire complex is officially named Shaker Trace and represents the largest wetland/grassland complex in Hamilton County. Late summer is a great time to see these prairie plants in bloom in a stunning array of colors.

Identifying all of these plants can be a challenge. But our trip leader, Denis Conover, will help us in that regard. Denis has become our go to guy when botany is the theme of our field trips and we are fortunate to have him share his knowledge with us. Denis is a professor in the department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cincinnati and has been involved in various types of botanical research since 1981. Denis also has a great interest in birds and will equally focus on them. Denis is also a board member of our local Audubon Chapter.

Denis plans to take a leisurely walk exploring the Shaker Trace complex with lots of stops to look at and identify plants, especially the prairie blooms. This is also a great time of year for butterflies. Some breeding birds will still be around as well as a few early migrants. Denis will point out all of these and any other wildlife we encounter.

This trip will end sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 PM. We will be on foot for the duration of the trip but the walking will be slow and level. Some places are likely to be damp as we will at times walk along a marsh. We can expect late July to be hot, so to make your trip more comfortable we suggest bringing water, sun screen, insect repellant and wearing a hat. We will be walking through long grass so you might want to consider long pants. Bring your binoculars if you have any.

So why not come out and join Denis as we walk among the grasses and flowering plants of these extensive prairie and wetland habitats. Restrooms are not available at Shaker Trace but they are available in other areas of the park. A Hamilton County Park Motor Vehicle Permit is required ($5 daily, $10 annual resident and $8 daily and $16 annual non-resident). Feel free to contact Denis if you have any questions.

Directions: The University of Cincinnati Center for Field Studies is located at 11053 Oxford Road. The buildings that house the UC Center are a preserved historic Shaker farm site. To get there, take I-74 west to the Dry Fork Road exit # 3. Turn right onto Dry Fork Road (north) and go 2.2 miles to New Haven Road. Bear right (east) onto New Haven Road and go .8 mile to Oxford Road. Turn left onto Oxford Road and go .7 of a mile. The UC Center for Field Studies will be on your left. Park in the gravel parking spaces or along the gravel driveway and look for Denis.

For a Park map and other information visit the Miami Whitewater Forest website at:

https://www.greatparks.org/parks/miami-whitewater-forest

(Contributed by Jay Stenger)