2025 MEMBER FIELD TRIPS & EVENTS

​ONAPA field trips will last from 2 to 3 hours or longer depending on interest.  
Bring water and a snack or a bag lunch to tide you over and dress for the weather and terrain. Insect repellent is recommended.

Most trips require registration. To register, please email [email protected] with your name and cell phone. You will receive a confirmation email for field trips that have limited participation and where additional directions will be provided.
 We recommend you dress for the weather, bring water and a bag lunch or snack on all field trips.

​If you are not a member or if your membership is not current you can join or renew now
using PayPal or by downloading a membership form HERE.
Let's talk Lakeside Daisies on Saturday, May 10 at 11 am

Jennifer Windus wil be our tour leader. Lakeside Daisy expert, naturalist and ONAPA Vice President, Jennifer will bring us up to date on the Lakeside Daisy Federal Recovery Plan. We will explore the associated alvar ecosystem with its bounty of the Lakeside Daisies -- which should be in full bloom -- at Lakeside Daisy State Nature. Other unusual, rare plants and the interesting glacial geology of the Marblehead peninsula on the shore of Lake Erie will be featured. Participation is limited to 20 and you will be given details of directions to the tour site when registering.
 
Registration Required - email [email protected]
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Lakeside Daisies - Photo by Ian Adams
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Ramalina complanata - Photo by Robert Klips
Thursday, June 12, at 10: 30 am learn more about lichens at Caesar Creek 

Leader Robert Klips, Associate Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University, is the author of Common Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens of Ohio. We will meet at the Caesar Creek Lake Visitor Center parking lot. This is the Corps of Engineers facility located off of North Clarksville Road, Waynesville, Ohio. If you have a copy of Dr. Klips’ book, he will be glad to autograph it. Participation is not limited, but please pre-register. 

​Registration REQUIRED -- Email [email protected].
Tuesday, July 8, 10 am, enjoy a special tour of kettle lake sphagnum peatlands in Portage County
Leader ONAPA President Guy L. Denny and author of Peatlands of Ohio and the Southern Great Lakes Region will be exploring kettle lake sphagnum peatlands of Portage County. The tour will follow boardwalks in Kent Bog and Triangle Lake State Nature Preserves. If you have a copy of Denny’s peatland book, he will be glad to autograph it. Please register to receive directions on where to meet.

​Registration Required --- participation limited to 15.
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Kent Bog - Photo by Ian Adams
Thursday, July 20, 10 am, enjoy a walk with some good fronds

Steve McKee, naturalist and retired Director of the Richland County Park District and Gorman Nature Center will lead us through the woods at Malabar Farm State Park (Richland County).  His focus will be on the ferns and other flora. Meet in the parking lot next to the Pugh Cabin and sugar shack.  Participation limited to 20 -- please register.

​Registration REQUIRED - Email [email protected].
Tour of Denny's Tallgrass Prairie set for Saturday, July 26, at 10 am to 1 pm
Registration not required.

Several prairie experts will be on hand to guide small groups through the native flora of the prairie situated in Knox County.

Members and friends are invited to tour the gently rolling landscape in peak bloom: compass plants, royal catchfly, coneflowers, cup plants, and so much more host a gathering of butterflies, bees and other pollinators, during the tour. The prairie was created on 20-plus acres of once-cultivated farmland and also features two ponds with native hibiscus, gentians and other natives that thrive in wetter conditions. 

​This “free to the public event" takes place at Denny’s Tallgrass Prairie which is a 20-plus acre prairie located in Knox County about 45 minutes north of Columbus. The street address is 6021 Mt. Gilead Road (SR95) Fredericktown, Ohio. From the junction of Interstate 71 and State Route 95, follow SR95 east just under 5 miles to the 
Photos by Terry Duncan & Jan Kennedy
Knox County Line Just about 20 feet beyond on the North side of SR95 is the driveway where there will be an ONAPA events sign directing participants up the drive to the designated parking area.
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Big bluestem -- Photo by Guy Denny
Saturday, September 13, 10:30 am, enjoy a prairie fen
ONAPA President Guy L. Denny will lead a tour of Resthaven Wildlife Area, located in Castalia (Erie County). Meet at the Resthaven Wildlife Office parking lot at the end of Cement Street.  Participation is limited to 30, so please register. The grassland is home to a variety of native plants characteristic of prairie ecosystems.

​Registration REQUIRED -- Email [email protected].
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 Collect seeds of prairie plants for your garden Saturday, October 4 at 10 am 
Here is your chance to try your hand at growing native prairie plants. Visitors to the free Saturday event may collect all the seeds they want from Denny’s Tallgrass Prairie and learn how to establish their own prairie gardens. Several prairie specialists will be on hand to answer questions and help identify various species of prairie plants.

Participants should bring hand pruners, and containers such as paper bags in which they can deposit and label the seeds they collect.
This “free to the public event" takes place at Denny’s Tallgrass Prairie which is a 20-plus acre prairie located in Knox County about 45 minutes north of Columbus. The street address is 6021 Mt. Gilead Road (SR95) Fredericktown, Ohio. From the junction of Interstate 71 and State Route 95, follow SR95 east just under 5 miles to the Knox County Line Just about 20 feet beyond on the North side of SR95 is the driveway where there will be an ONAPA events sign directing participants up the drive to the designated parking area. Registration is not required.