Join us on a hunt for those elusive harbingers of spring!

Yellow Trout Lily

We've just opened this event up to more participants

One of the more wonderful aspects of spring besides the longer days, warmer weather, returning greenery and blooming trees, is the wildflowers that dot the forest floor. The so-called spring ephemeral wildflowers take advantage of all the light that reaches them before all of the bigger plants grow back their leaves, like the trees and shrubs. Some of these ephemeral flowers will keep their blooms for a while showing off and/or calling local pollinators to visit them, while others are only there for the blink of an eye.

Come out with us and let's see what we can find. We will meet at Winans Meadow (4500 Franklintown Rd) and explore a stream valley, rock outcrops, and some seeps and a hillside area recovering from a bush fire in 2024. 

Total walk length: 1-2 miles

Folks aged 10+ who enjoy quiet concentration and learning about botany are welcome.  Botany beginners are welcome!

Please leave your dogs at home

This hike is free, but registration is required. 

To ensure everyone has a meaningful learning experience, participation is limited to 15 people. A smaller group allows for quiet observation, and plenty of opportunities to ask questions about the plants and habitats we encounter.

Meet Thayer Young, your hike leader

Thayer Young is a volunteer with the Friends of Gwynns Falls Leakin Park, and tries to walk each trail in the park in each season. He recently worked with FOGFLP to update and redo the trail map brochure that is available at the main entrances to the park and can also be downloaded here. His day job is making maps and databases for small nonprofits, but he also loves to identify plants and is working with another naturalist on a plant list for the park. The list includes 200+ species so far.

Additional naturalist hikes are planned for 2026; subscribe to our newsletter to see what we are up to.