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The Jefferson Memorial Forest is a
The forest offers over 35 miles (50 km) of various
In 1946, Jefferson County, Kentucky, undertook to establish a working forest preserve in the southern part of the county. The Jefferson County Memorial Forest was originally envisioned to be and was named as a memorial to the area's dead of World War II. Since then, the forest has been redesignated to remember all who served in the armed forces. The original purchases were guided by Paul Yost, who was appointed as the county forester. Through 1954, some were purchased. No further properties were purchased until a single tract was acquired in 1965. The next acquisition was not until 1979, and from then until the mid-1980s, the forest was expanded to about . Since then, acquisition has proceeded again slowly.
In the late 1990s, the old ranger station, a former country schoolhouse, was renovated as a visitor and welcome center.
On May 30, 2004 parts of the park were ravaged by a
There are some fifty types of trees, including ten species of oaks, and a rich flora of wildflowers and seventeen species of
Jefferson Memorial Forest website
The Parklands of Floyds Fork website
21st Century Parks website
Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy website
{{List of parks in Louisville, Kentucky Parks in Louisville, Kentucky Military monuments and memorials in the United States Urban forests in the United States Forests of Kentucky Protected areas established in 1946 1946 establishments in Kentucky
The Jefferson Memorial Forest is a forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
located in southwest Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, in the Knobs region of Kentucky. At , it is the largest municipal urban forest
An urban forest is a forest, or a collection of trees, that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense, it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. As opposed to a forest park, whose ec ...
in the United States.
The forest was established as a tribute to Kentucky's veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that h ...
s, and was designated as a National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
wildlife refuge.
Facilities
The forest offers over 35 miles (50 km) of various hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
trails, including several which offer views of downtown Louisville. Several discrete usage areas are featured, including the Tom Wallace Recreation Area, with the Tom Wallace Lake; the Paul Yost Recreation Area, and the Horine Conference Center. Camping
Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...
and fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...
are both permitted. Tom Wallace Lake is stocked with trout and catfish twice a year. Tom Wallace Recreation Area features various handicapped-accessible facilities, including a fishing dock and a -long natural trail, the Tuliptree Trail. The Horine Conference Center is a popular field trip destination for Louisville schools.
The forest property is operated as parkland by Louisville Metro Government.
A hiking trail, the Siltstone Trail, traverses much of the forest from east to west. There are several local hiking trails, in addition. Horine also features many hiking trails and both the Paul Yost and Tom Wallace Recreation Areas have horse trails. No mountain biking is permitted in the forest at this time, but the low traffic roads and hilly terrain afford road cyclists many challenging routes through the forest and surrounding areas.
History
In 1946, Jefferson County, Kentucky, undertook to establish a working forest preserve in the southern part of the county. The Jefferson County Memorial Forest was originally envisioned to be and was named as a memorial to the area's dead of World War II. Since then, the forest has been redesignated to remember all who served in the armed forces. The original purchases were guided by Paul Yost, who was appointed as the county forester. Through 1954, some were purchased. No further properties were purchased until a single tract was acquired in 1965. The next acquisition was not until 1979, and from then until the mid-1980s, the forest was expanded to about . Since then, acquisition has proceeded again slowly.
In the late 1990s, the old ranger station, a former country schoolhouse, was renovated as a visitor and welcome center.
On May 30, 2004 parts of the park were ravaged by a tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
, which caused several trails to be temporarily closed.
Natural history
There are some fifty types of trees, including ten species of oaks, and a rich flora of wildflowers and seventeen species of fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...
s and fern allies. A wide variety of animals can be seen, including bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...
s, coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...
s, red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...
es, white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
, great blue heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos I ...
s and horned owl
The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for the Eurasian eagle-owl.
This genus contains 19 species that ar ...
s.
Like many other natural areas in the eastern United States, the forest has a significant problem with invasive exotics, including tree-of-heaven
''Ailanthus altissima'' , commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, varnish tree, or in Chinese as ''chouchun'' (), is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is native to northeast and central China, and Taiwan. Unlike other mem ...
(Ailanthus altissima), autumn olive (Eleagnus umbellata), Amur honeysuckle
''Lonicera maackii'', the Amur honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle in the family Caprifoliaceae that is native to temperate western Asia; specifically in northern and western China south to Yunnan, Mongolia, Primorsky Krai in southeaste ...
(Lonicera maackii), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), and princess tree
''Paulownia tomentosa'', common names princess tree, empress tree, or foxglove-tree, is a deciduous hardwood tree in the family Paulowniaceae, native to central and western China. It is an extremely fast-growing tree with seeds that disperse ...
(Paulownia tomentosa).
The forest is located in the Knobs region of Kentucky, also known as the Muldraugh Escarpment. This is a belt of rugged hills lying between the Bluegrass and the Pennyrile regions. The underlying geology of these hills is primarily siltstone and shale, with the siltstone creating extremely steep hillsides. The most important of these in the forest area is the Holtzclaw Siltstone, named after Holsclaw Hill.
See also
*The Parklands of Floyds Fork Floyds Fork is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Salt River in Kentucky, directly south and east of Louisville. It begins in Henry County, ...
* List of parks in the Louisville metropolitan area
Following is a list of parks, forests and nature preserves in the Louisville metropolitan area.
Louisville Metro (Jefferson County)
Frederick Law Olmsted Parks
The Frederick Law Olmsted Parks (formerly called the Olmsted Park System) ...
* List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area
This is a list of visitor attractions and annual events in the Louisville metropolitan area.
Annual festivals and other events
Spring
* Abbey Road on the River, a salute to The Beatles with many bands, held Memorial Day weekend in Louisvi ...
* City of Parks
City of Parks is a municipal project to create a continuous paved pedestrian and biking trail around the city of Louisville, Kentucky while also adding a large amount of park land. The project was announced on February 22, 2005. Current plans call ...
* Valley of the Drums
The Valley of the Drums is a 23-acre (9.3 hectare) toxic waste site near Brooks in northern Bullitt County, Kentucky, near Louisville, named after the waste-containing drums strewn across the area. After it had been collecting waste since the ...
, a toxic waste dump near Jefferson Memorial Forest
References
External links
Jefferson Memorial Forest website
The Parklands of Floyds Fork website
21st Century Parks website
Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy website
{{List of parks in Louisville, Kentucky Parks in Louisville, Kentucky Military monuments and memorials in the United States Urban forests in the United States Forests of Kentucky Protected areas established in 1946 1946 establishments in Kentucky