Prairie Grass Trail Spring Flower Ride – 2025 CANCELLED

December 5, 2020

When:

May 1, 2025 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm America/New York Timezone

2025-05-01T13:00:00-04:00

2025-05-01T15:00:00-04:00

Where:

Prairie Grass Trailhead
262 W High St
London, OH 43140
USA

Cost:

Free

SORRY, CANCELLED FOR 2025

PRAIRIE GRASS TRAIL SPRING FLOWER RIDE

Black-eyed Susan? Wild parsnip? Prairie rose?

Learn about & enjoy the beauty of springtime prairie wildflowers during a beautiful May afternoon’s leisurely bike ride

RECOMMENDED: HELMETS, WATER… AND AN INQUISITIVE MIND!

The Madison Soil & Water Conservation District will be heading the event.

The ride starts 1:00 PM at the Prairie Grass Trailhead in London (262 W. High St.) and extends southwest to the Madison-Clark County border. Bicyclists can enjoy the beauty of native flowers such as black-eyed Susan, wild parsnip, prairie rose, and more. It’s an enjoyable and educational ride! After the official ride ends, head onto South Charleston or return back to London at your leisure.

No fee required!

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Experience a progression of wildflowers in peak bloom at the historical prairies along the Prairie Grass Trail this summer!

These prairies existed before the time of the pioneer and were kept preserved by the railroad because the land could not be farmed. Now the prairies are maintained by volunteers who share a vision of saving this heritage and providing educational opportunities through stewardship.

Come ride to discover the beauty of the historic prairies! Pause and become acquainted with these historic grasses and flowers. Learn how to be a part of preserving them for our future.

Top

Around 2009, an idea first developed during a conversation between Wayne Roberts with FMCPT and Van Viney, CEO of MATCO Services. It took a while, but in 2019 work began in earnest to begin construction of a "welcome" area on the east side of London. This was envisioned to compliment our beautiful "welcome" on the west side of town, the Prairie Grass Trailhead with its camping area, shelter house, and many other amenities. The original vision to create a multi-panel mural using the bricked-in windows of the old tile factory building that MATCO now owned was expanded upon to include a mini-park, a respite with benches, pleasant landscaping, and more.

Many local people have contributed many, many hours of brain power and sweat equity to bring this project from an old factory wall and overgrown grounds to the trail highlight it has become. We have kept costs extremely low though all of the in-kind donations and almost innumerable hours of donated labor. But also, we received great support support for the funding we required, all from Madison County-area companies and people. It was, and is, a true "community" project.

An added benefit was realized a couple of years ago when we found that we could easily create access to Roberts Pass for MATCO clients and employees. They previously had found handicapped-friendly trail access difficult if not downright impossible. For the first time, they are able to safely access their next-door neighbor, the Roberts Pass section of the Ohio to Erie Trail!

Further value was gained when Michele Bouquet and Sue Cline joined our efforts bringing the wisdom of the Madison County Master Gardeners with them. They, and many of their cohorts, contributed tons of time developing and implementing a gorgeous native plants garden in our mini-park, along with several pollinator plant zones. We hope to build on the value of this by adding educational kiosks throughout the mini-park. We also plan to work with area groups, including the OSU Extension Center, on educational opportunities for local schools, seniors, etc.