Leslie Cooper, Arkansas Monarch and Pollinator Coordinator, Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever, will lead DLAMN on a walk through one of the best remaining blackland prairie complexes in the state. The area that we know collectively as Terre Noire has two components, Terre Noire Natural Area managed by Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and Prairie Ridge Reserve managed by The Nature Conservancy. Leslie will lead us on a walk/hike at the Prairie Ridge Reserve component.
Given Leslie’s love of pollinators, bees in particular, this will be an exciting adventure! In addition to pollinators, the wild flowers native to the blackland prairie should be showing off! As we walk along it will be obvious from the seashells that at one time this area was inundated by the Gulf of Mexico.
This walk/hike will be moderately easy to moderate. Prairie ridge is open, gentle rolling hills. The distance walked will probably be 2-3 miles total.
Most DLAMN trips to this area are to the Terre Noire Natural Area component. For many, this will be the first visit to Prairie Ridge. The restoration effort of Prairie Ridge is considerably younger than that of Terre Noire. It will provide a great outdoor classroom demonstrating all that is involved in prairie restoration and a good comparison to Terre Noire. An additional point of interest will be that Prairie Ridge underwent a prescribed burn just 11 months ago. You will find this to be an amazing story of Nature’s strength.
Directions: Prairie Ridge Reserve is located southwest of Arkadelphia and is approximately 40 miles from Hot Springs. Because of the remote location and the limited parking, we will carpool. Meet in the Harp’s parking lot, Hwy 7 South, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:10 a.m. We will leave for Prairie Ridge promptly at 8:15 a.m.
For those that will be driving, the GPS coordinates for the location where we will meet Leslie are: 34.101645, -93.159905 (on Burrow Rd near the intersection of AR-51 and Burrow Rd)
You will need to bring water, maybe a snack or sack lunch, and plenty of insect repellent. Some will stop for lunch on the way home at the Flying Burger in Caddo Valley. If you’ve not experienced the Flying Burger, you are in for a treat.