Holden Arboretum Hiking Trails PicturesHolden Arboretum has many adventures for the hiker. Explore the interactive displays, frequently changing art shows or the annual Photography Contest before taking on the Holden Arboretum Hiking Trails in search of flowers, shrubs and trees. Tour the many trails, which offer a variety of lengths and difficulty, from easy to rugged; something for everyone. Walk through gardens, fields and woods, past ponds and down into the valley. Guided hikes are available year-round and are listed in the quarterly Class Schedule. Self-guided walks are fun too!
For a more rugged view of nature, tour our natural areas. To preserve the fragility of these areas, tours are open to a limited number of guests each month.
Pierson Creek Valley: 3 hours
A wet walk through the East Branch of the Chagrin River. Discover geologic formations and plant communities not found anywhere else.
Trail Details:
2. Highlights Trail (Easy - 1 mile) - First-time visitors will find this trail a great way to learn about what The Holden Arboretum has to offer and where major features, gardens and collections, and trails are located. Extension loop (Moderate - 2 miles).
11. Leaf Trail (Easy - 1 mile) - Open from mid September through October to help visitors and students identify trees. Thirty-seven deciduous trees are marked with numbered wooden leaves and blue and white flagging tape for easy correlation with the self-guiding, identification brochure.
Once a resort for those escaping summer’s heat, Little mountain is once more a woodland retreat. Learn the history of the area while touring ravines, caves and wooded areas. The Arlene and Arthur S. Holden Butterfly Garden is directly behind the Visitor Center. This fabulous garden is over two acres and home to two ponds, a waterfall and a profusion of plantings geared to attract caterpillars, butterflies and hummingbirds. Summer brings an explosion of color that attracts birds, butterflies and people alike. There is nothing more appealing on a warm summer afternoon than sitting on the patio listening to the waterfall and watching the nectar gatherers visiting the flowers.
The Helen S. Layer Rhododendron Garden is a popular late spring attraction. Twenty acres of rhododendrons, azaleas and mountain laurel provide a dazzling display of color from April through July, peaking in early June. The Rhododendron Garden in bloom is a spectacular sight and a photographer's paradise. It is also home to two ancient oak trees, a white oak over 350 years old, and a red oak over 250 years old.
Little Mountain:
Today, The Holden Arboretum owns and preserves parts of Little Mountain with two goals in mind: first, to maintain a responsible commitment to scientific study and management of this natural area, which is home to hundreds of plant and animal species; and second, to provide Arboretum members with an opportunity for learning and enjoyment. The upland vegetation is typical of woodlands normally found farther north — a community of white pine, eastern hemlock, and northern hardwoods. At lower elevations is a beech-maple forest, more typical of the surrounding area. The Arboretum preserves parts of Little Mountain as a unique natural legacy. On Little Mountain, our challenge is to maintain this unique area's integrity and diversity, and at the same time to balance natural process and human impact. Because this natural area has a unique geological history and is home for hundreds of plant and animal species, Holden Arboretum limits access to its Little Mountain property to members and visitors only with special permission or on guided hikes, which are scheduled throughout the year.
Stebbins Gulch:
Geology profoundly affects ecology in Stebbins. The plant and animal communities follow in response to three major factors: the massive bedrock formations which comprise the Gulch, the ravine system, and the interplay between stream and groundwater. Several plant communities dominate Stebbins: hemlock-northern hardwoods on the slopes and terrace bluffs, oak-maple along the highest Berea bluffs, beech-sugar maple in the older middle terraces and upland flats, and mixed mesophytic in the valley bottoms. The evolution of geological events makes the Gulch a dynamic natural area to visit, and the many unique native species which inhabit Stebbins make it a conspicuously beautiful area. Rugged geology and abundant flora combine to make Stebbins Gulch one of the Arboretum's prizes. Stebbins Gulch is a restricted natural area, designated in 1968 by the U.S. Department of the interior as Natural History Landmark. Monthly hikes are led by an Arboretum guide.
Does the Myrtle S. Holden Wildflower Garden serve a conservation purpose?
The Holden Arboretum displays and conserves rare Ohio plants designated by the Heritage Network, a program to protect rare Ohio plants. In 1997, thirty-five rare species were recorded on Arboretum property. These populations are monitored to see if they are increasing or decreasing, to see how successful changes in the environment alter the populations, and to calculate the percent fruit set and seed viability. We are also the Midwest regional representative for The Center for the Plant Conservation, a national organization dedicated to preserving rare and endangered plants throughout the United States, presently displaying 27 species of federal concern. The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a national consortium of 28 leading arboreta and botanical gardens that are working together to stem the tide of extinction. In 1984, The Holden Arboretum was selected to serve as the Great Lakes — Midwest Regional Garden by the newly-formed CPC. The goal of natural areas management is to maintain and ultimately increase species diversity of both flora and fauna. In order to preserve our native habitats, plant community surveys are conducted by Arboretum staff to inventory the composition of the existing flora. Wise management of unique areas such as Bole Woods, Pierson Creek Valley, Stebbins Gulch, and Little Mountain cannot begin until there is an understanding of the plant communities which comprise these areas. Diseases, pests and human threats have the potential to severely affect our natural areas. In order to reduce their impact these problems need to be monitored and researched. Current critical issues under study include: exploding gypsy moth and deer populations, beech bark disease, and water quality. The primary objectives of The Center for Plant Conservation are: Develop a National Living Collection of endangered species for public display, genetic conservation and research. Establish long-term germplasm preservation through seed storage at a federal seed bank. Create a comprehensive data bank that will assemble, catalog, and share basic information about the biology and horticulture of endangered species. Educate the public about the threats to our endangered flora. The Center for Plant Conservation's National Living Collection has grown to nearly 435 endangered plant species in the program's first eight years; The Holden Arboretum's contribution is 27 of its region's estimated 100 federally listed and threatened plant species. This collection represents more endangered species conserved in a shorter period of time than any other program in the history of American conservation. Visit website hikingohioparks.com for more information about hiking the Holden Arboretum Nature Preserve trails and other Ohio neighboring states hiking trails that have visited by hikingohioparks.com. |
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