Bob’s photo of the Snow Trillium. See link below for more photos of this species.
Recently Andrew Gibson and several friends visited Fort Hill State Memorial in Highland County — timing their trip perfectly to stumble upon one of winter’s last hurrahs. Snow and ice created a winter fairy wonderland, which the images in his blog show very beautifully. After the ice and snow melted as the day progressed, the dropped down into the Gorge and saw one of Ohio’s earliest wildflowers — Snow Trillium (also known as Dwarf Trillium), with some snow still partially covering them.
Andrew’s blog is great — and one you really need to see about this visit to Fort Hill. We have linked to his blogs a couple of times previously. Click here to visit his blog. As you read his blog, you might be tempted to say something like: “Wow, what a neat natural area! I understand it is one of Ohio’s 25 National Natural Landmarks, but it should also be dedicated as a State Nature Preserve, don’t you think?” Well, if everything falls together, perhaps in July, Fort Hill is planned to be dedicated as the newest of our Dedicated State Nature Preserves. It is certainly worthy of the honor and the added legal protection for this magnificent, semi-wilderness area (in an “eastern wilderness” sense). If you’ve not hiked there recently, you better plan a trip soon. Wildflowers are exploding right now along the Gorge Trail and throughout the preserve.
Bob Glotzhober
Curator Emeritus, Natural History
