Sally Brown Nature Preserve

Sally Brown Nature Preserve © Tom Barnes

Why You Should Visit
The Palisades are the majestic limestone cliffs that run along the Kentucky River between Frankfort and Clays Ferry, to the west of Lexington. There are numerous scenic vistas of the Kentucky River Palisades during the fall and winter months. Wildflowers and migrating birds are abundant in the spring.

Location
Garrard County

Size
Sally Brown Nature Preserve is 632 acres, with an additional core buffer area of 350 acres.

Conditions
Open to the public all year from sunrise to sunset. Visitors may enjoy low impact activities that include hiking, photography, and bird watching. Camping, biking, horses, and off-road/all-terrain vehicles are strictly prohibited. In order to protect the unique habitat of the preserve, we ask that visitors stay on the trail at all times.

How to Prepare for Your Visit
For more information on visiting this and other Nature Conservancy sites in Kentucky, see our Preserve Visitation Guidelines page.

Directions

• Travel south on Nicholasville Road (U.S. 27) from Lexington
• Proceed 19.2 miles from the intersection of Nicholasville Road and New Circle Road
• After crossing the KY River, turn right onto KY 1845 and travel 3.4 miles to Camp Dick Fire Station
• Turn left and travel 0.2 miles
• Turn right onto High Bridge Road
• Go 2.0 miles and turn right onto Bowman's Bottom Road at the large High Bridge Estates sign -- please use caution on this is a narrow road
• Travel 1.5 miles to the parking lot.

What to See: Plants
The steep clifflines surrounding the Kentucky River also harbor the largest concentration of forest within the Inner Bluegrass, which is otherwise largely agricultural or suburban. Blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata), chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), and sugar maple (Acer sacharum) are abundant on the steep limestone slopes, along with less common trees like rock elm (Ulmus thomasi), yellow wood (Cladrastis lutea) and yellow buckeye (Aesculus octandra).

Also of interest are sites on old sandy river terraces and bluff-top ridges which have more acid or infertile soils than are typical for the Inner Bluegrass Region. Here exist beech (Fagus), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), and oak/hickory (Quercus/Carya) forest types similar to those in Appalachian Kentucky.

What to See: Animals
The Palisades is home to at least 25 mammal species and 35 reptile species. Two endangered bats -- the Gray bat (Myotis grisescens) and Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) -- utilize this habitat. Bats require forested corridors that serve as a source of insects. The bats feed on these insects over streams and along forest edges.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Palisades region harbors the largest concentration of rare plant species in the Bluegrass Region.
 
The purchase and opening of the Sally Brown Nature Preserve was made possible through a 2:1 challenge grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. That challenge was met by donations from Mrs. W.L. Lyons (Sally) Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Alan M. Bond, and the W.L. Lyons Brown Foundation.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The main concern for this site is to provide adequate public access without compromising the delicate nature of the preserve. Other objectives include preventing significant damage to native species by invasives and gathering additional information about the species present at the preserve.