Bernheim Forest Quietly Recovering from Ice Storm
As Kentucky continues to recover from the January ice storm, many of the state’s parks are slowly reopening trails as the cleanup continues. One of my favorite local hiking haunts is Bernheim Forest, just 20 minutes south of Louisville off of Interstate 65.
Bernheim Forest is an arboretum and research park, complete with miles and miles of gorgeous hiking trails through untouched habitat. I’ve been hiking Bernheim since I was 4 years old, and some of the best days of my youth were spent in the park.
The January 2009 ice storm will probably go down in the history of the park as one of the most damaging weather events in its history. Thousands of trees have incurred damage of some sort, and many of the parks trees suffered complete root system failure from the saturation of the ground and have toppled over. Pine trees in the park were hit especially hard, including those surrounding the Big Prairie Loop road and the Guerrilla Loop recreation area.
Currently, the park is open and all of the paved roads are clear of debris. Trails that are currently open include
- Lake Nevin Loop
- Two Ponds Loop
- Nursery Loop
- Canopy Walk
These trails are some of the few in the park that have paving or gravel over most of the trail. All remote woods trails, including all trailheads on the Forest Hill Road, remain closed. The Canopy Walk on the loop of Forest Hill Road is open and offers some views of the damage in the forest at treetop level.
Scheduled events continue at the park and the cleanup is moving forward. I was a bit shocked at the sheer volume of the damage, but to keep it in perspective this is nature’s way. The research center will now be afforded an unusual look at how a forest repairs itself after storms of this type. There is currently no timeline for reopening the remote trails, but with the volume of downed timber, I wouldn’t expect any update for a month or more.
Volunteers are welcome!
“To learn more about volunteering yourself, with a group of friends, family, or a work-related team, visit our website at www.bernheim.org or contact Dottie Pilato at (502) 955-8512 x 236 or dpilato@bernheim.org. Bernheim is a great environment for fostering peace, teamwork, communication, cooperation, and the satisfaction of a job well done!”
While I visited Bernheim, I also took a few pictures of the damage. The photo album Bernheim Ice Storm Damage has several pictures that don’t do the widespread damage any justice, but do depict scenes that are pretty much everywhere in the park.
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