Field Trip – Kal-Haven Trail

Spring Ephemeral Wildflower Tour

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Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28

10:00 am and 11:30 am

with Sue Hodapp, Conservation Steward, Kal-Haven Trail

The Friends of the Kal-Haven Trail will lead a spring ephemeral tour of the high-quality southern mesic forest habitat south of F Avenue. Bring your camera! We’ll start at the F Avenue crossing and head south for about three-quarters of a mile (or however far we make it in an hour). During the walk south, Sue will be pointing out plants and answering questions. It should take about half an hour to walk back to F Ave.

Location: The tour will begin where the Kal-Haven Trail intersects F Avenue. Parking is limited there; please park at the 10th Street trailhead 15 minutes before the tour start time and carpool to the F Ave meeting spot.

Tour times and sign-up: Four (identical) tours will be offered over two days, at 10:00 and 11:30 am on Saturday and Sunday. Each tour will last about 90 minutes. Because capacity is limited to 20 participants per tour, we ask that you sign up in advance. Use the yellow button above or click here. The sign-up page also contains full information about the field trip and you will receive an email confirmation when you sign up for one of the tours.

The Kal-Haven Ecosystem (formerly Wildflowers) Restoration Project was started by Sue Hodapp as a Master Gardener and MSU Conservation Steward Capstone project in 2011. As a bicyclist, Sue was amazed at the beauty of the spring ephemerals in the stretch of trail between F and G Avenues, and appalled by the spread of garlic mustard that began soon after the trail (a former railroad line) opened in 1991. The DNR welcomed the volunteer restoration project. Currently it is hosted by Friends of the Kal-Haven Trail, chaired by Sue Hodapp. The other board officers, Pat Reid, Mark Johnson, and Carol Harris volunteer on the project, as do other members of KAWO and concerned trail users. Sue says, “we are always teaching each other about ecosystem restoration and having fun doing so!”  Volunteer work removing invasive plants and woody shrubs occurs year round. Contact Sue at [email protected] to be added to the list of volunteers and people who like to receive notices of what’s in bloom.