One of my favorite places to enjoy the fall colors in central Ohio is Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve in Fairfield County. My friend, Connie, and I went hiking there Tuesday. The best view is at the cliff on the Jacob's Ladder Trail. Here's what it was like.
Besides checking out the view from the cliff, we hiked the length of both trails there. Here are a few additional photos.
The ferns above stay green all winter. Ohio's settlers used these Read more ➜ Autumn Visit to Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve
One of my favorite places to enjoy the fall colors in central Ohio is Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve in Fairfield County. My friend, Connie, and I went hiking there Tuesday. The best view is at the cliff on the Jacob's Ladder Trail. Here's what it was like.
Besides checking out the view from the cliff, we hiked the length of both trails there. Here are a few additional photos.
The ferns above stay green all winter. Ohio's settlers used these Read more ➜ 
Sunday was a cool and sunny autumn day. Bob and I decided it would be a great day to check out the fall color at Scioto Trail State Park. There are two sites at Scioto Lake where you can get a view of the surrounding forests from up high. One is the park's fire tower and the other is a place known as the Vista. In both cases there is parking right at the site, so you don't have to do any hiking to take advantage of the view. But of course if you decide to go to the fire tower there is a long climb 
This past weekend we went back to our favorite spots for fall foliage in northeast Ohio: Mohican State Park and Malabar Farm. At Mohican we stopped at Pleasant Hill Dam. We photographed the foliage in the Clear Fork Gorge on one side of the dam and along Pleasant Hill Lake on the other. Lots of people were taking advantage of the wonderful weather to sight-see, hike, or boat on the lake. We then drove over to Mohican Lodge for lunch and a short walk from the lodge over to the lake.
We 
In the spring we published a post describing Gallagher Fen State Nature Preserve in Clark County, Ohio. Since that publication, we learned that the preserve has an impressive variety of summer flowers. To view these we returned on June 29th and on August 11th of this year and took photos of many of the flowers that we saw. The photos can be seen below with the date each was taken in the caption to give some idea of when the flower is in bloom.
As the preserve's name suggests, it contains something 
The Nature Center at Lake Hope State Park is well-known as the place to go if you want to try hand-feeding hummingbirds. This seasonal activity typically begins in July. This year park officials will continue to host the hand-feeding sessions on Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 3 PM until Labor Day.
This was the first time Bob and I had tried hand-feeding hummingbirds, and we both loved it. It is fascinating to watch hummingbirds perform their aerial acrobatics, but it was even more amazing to 
Mountain laurel is also known as calico bush or spoonwood. As a mature shrub this evergreen plant can grow to be anywhere between 9.8 feet to 29.5 feet in height (3 m to 9 m). It is native to the eastern United States, and it prefers to grow on rocky cliffs in acidic soil. Although it is a member of the blueberry family, no part of the plant is safe to eat. Even the pollen is poisonous which means that honey made from its pollen is also toxic. Besides being potentially lethal to humans, it is also 
I was delighted at how many species of wildflower were in bloom at Fort Hill this past weekend. We saw many of the same flowers that appeared in April Wildflowers at Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve. So rather than posting duplicate flower photos, I'll just post ones that were newly seen at Fort Hill.
The dining lodge is one of the attractions of Lake Hope State Park. Originally built in 1950, the lodge burned to the ground in 2006. We visited Lake Hope State Parke several times after the lodge was destroyed, and it was a long drive to find a meal. Happily the lodge was rebuilt last year, and it has resumed serving those visiting and camping in the park as well as the local people of Vinton County. People can hire portions of the lodge for gatherings of all sorts, including conferences, weddings, 
Like much of the northern part of the country, we had a spring snow last night. Today I decided to go on a wintry spring walk at Inniswood Metro Garden to see how the flowers were faring. I invite you to come along!
And here's what the grounds looked like.
And finally I took a look at the children's garden.
The early blooming flowers are pretty hardy, so I'm guessing they'll be okay. I've even heard that the snow insulates and protects them 
This past Saturday I stopped by Blendon Woods Metro Park in central Ohio. While going on a walk there I watched a large flock of turkeys slowly move from one side of the trail to the other. The females were the most shy, and they scooted across the trail lickety-split. The males, however, took their time, often pausing in the middle of the trail as if to say, "I'm big and tough, and if anything you should be intimidated by me." Consequently the photos below are all males, what with them posing