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Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve

Nature reserves in KentuckyProtected areas of Garrard County, KentuckyProtected areas of Jessamine County, Kentucky
Tom Dorman Nature Preserve
Tom Dorman Nature Preserve

Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve is located in both Garrard and Jessamine county Kentucky and protects a section of the Kentucky River Palisades. The preserve is owned by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, and encompasses 880 acres (3.6 km2) of cliffs, bluffs, and bottomland. In 2007, the Kentucky State Parks announced the purchase of 90 acres (360,000 m2) adjacent to Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve for the creation of the new Palisades State Park, but that property was subsequently incorporated into the State Nature Preserve. The Palisades harbor many rare species for the Bluegrass due to the unusual landscape. The state endangered plants found on Tom Dorman's cliffs are starry cleft phlox (Phlox bifida var. stellaria), Eggleston's violet (Viola egglestonii), and tufted hair-grass (Deschampsia cespitosa); the latter being one of only two populations known in the state. The plants listed as state threatened found here are Kentucky viburnum (Viburnum molle) and False melic (Schizachne purpurascens). The rare Yellowwood tree is also found in this preserve. This preserve is open to the public. It features a strenuous two mile (3 km) loop following an old stage coach route to the river.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve
Lower Palisades Loop,

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Wikipedia: Tom Dorman State Nature PreserveContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 37.765 ° E -84.627 °
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Lower Palisades Loop

Lower Palisades Loop

Kentucky, United States
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Tom Dorman Nature Preserve
Tom Dorman Nature Preserve
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Hickman Creek

Hickman Creek is approximately 22 square mile tributary of the Kentucky River. Before flowing into the Kentucky River, Hickman Creek is formed from two separate creeks, East Hickman and West Hickman. West Hickman Creek flows through Fayette County, Kentucky and Jessamine County, Kentucky. Via the Kentucky and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. Hickman Creek flows through 3 parks in Kentucky, Jacobson Park, Veterans Park and Belleau Woods Park. Hickman Creek Conservancy was incorporated on January 1 of 2019 as a 501C3 non-profit organization in response to the community's concern with clean water. The Conservancy works with the city of Lexington's Stormwater Quality Projects Incentive Grant Program to improve water quality and educate citizens in the community. Continuing education about water quality in the Lexington area, the Geocaching Challenge was created as a fun outdoor treasure hunt which visits 12 water-related points of interest. At Highway 1268 near Camp Nelson, the creek has a mean annual discharge of 192 cubic feet per second, from data collected in the years 2008–2015. Hickman Creek is currently ranked #11 of the top 20 best smallmouth bass streams in the state by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Some of the species of fish in Hickman Creek are smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rock bass, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, and spotted gar. The occasional muskellunge can be seen in the Spring months as well.