Casting about for a topic for the Sunday Brew newsletter, I hit upon an idea to check out the woods at Jeffers Bend Environmental Center on the north side of Hopkinsville. (No doubt being cooped up in the car during a ride home from Lexington earlier in the day had me wanting to spend some time outdoors.)
So I headed out Sunday afternoon for a tromp along the muddy trail that follows the path of the North Fork of Little River.
I had the woods all to myself, although prints left by boots and dog paws were proof that this little slice of nature in the city does get some use even in the coldest season of the year.
Normally, I think about walking the trail at Jeffers Bend in the spring, when old memories of wildflower lessons in middle school give me a reason to go exploring.
But Sunday’s brief excursion was a good one — if for no other reason than to get a long view of the woods before everything greens up and the leaves make it hard to see deep into the trees.
If you’ve never been to Jeffers Bend, you should check it out. Starting downtown, drive out North Main Street and when you get to the traffic light next to Riverside Cemetery, turn right onto Metcalfe Lane. You’ll find a gravel parking lot on the left side of the road right after you cross the Little River bridge and enter Jeffers Bend.
From here you can walk to the one-acre lake and to a small wildlife observatory building. Beyond the lake is the walking trail that goes all the way to a bend in Little River and then back to the small lake.
On Sunday, right at that bend, I stopped for several minutes to watch an armadillo nosing around in the woods on the other side of the river from me.
Of course, there’s much more to Jeffers Bend than the trail in the woods.
Here’s a column that Jeffers Bend volunteer Charles Turner wrote for Hoptown Chronicle a few years ago that explains the history of Jeffers Bend, how it operates and what it offers to our region.
And you can see more of the photos that I took today here.
Here’s to more time spent in our great outdoors for everyone.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
