#packera aurea

Spring at Ohiopyle, Part 2: Jonathan Run.

The damp floodplain and wet seeps along Jonathan Run Trail produce truly fabulous spring wildflower displays, with peak color between the last week of April and the first two weeks of May. Two of my favorite spring bloomers thrive along this trail: dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolius), which has luckily escaped the over-harvesting that has made its larger relative ever more scarce, and creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), a gorgeous and hardy colonizer that should be in every native wildflower garden (it's now well established in my own). And if you can take your eyes off the wildflowers long enough, you'll be enchanted by the numerous cascades created by Jonathan Run's steep descent into the Youghiogheny River Gorge.

Although located adjacent to Ohiopyle State Park, Bear Run Nature Reserve gets significantly less tourist foot traffic than its noisy, crowded neighbor, probably due to a lack of beer and funnel cakes within walking distance.  It’s a gorgeous place for a hike at any time of the year, but especially in the spring and fall. The reserve is owned and operated by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and includes Frank Lloyd Wright’s triumph of form over function, Fallingwater.  Someday, when I can better organize and address the many priorities of my life, I’ll schedule a tour of the revolutionary edifice that chased away Edward Kaufman and his family. Today, however, I settled for a lovely spring hike.