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Kentucky River Palisades

Palisades of the Kentucky River
Palisades of the Kentucky River
© Chris Minor

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Kentucky River Palisades ecosystem project encompasses about 100 river miles, stretching from Clays Ferry in Madison County to Frankfort in Franklin County. Deep gorges, wet weather springs, caves, limestone outcrops and variation in slope exposure provide extremely diverse plant communities. This area harbors four species of endangered bats as well as several rare and endangered plant species.

An extensive wooded corridor along the Kentucky River and its tributaries provide a major migration route for birds, travel corridor for wildlife, and foraging areas for bats. Limestone cliffs and wooded uplands along the river harbor the only natural vegetation remaining in the Inner Bluegrass region.

Threats
The most irreversible threat to the Kentucky River Palisades is primary home development.  Some counties bordering the river have very minimal or no zoning to restrict development this combined with the rapid growth of cities such as Lexington, Nicholasville, Frankfort, Richmond and others legal preservation of adjacent land is priority.     

Plants
The Palisades support the highest concentration of rare plant species within the Bluegrass Region, sheltering such imperiled plants as mountain lover, Svenson's wild-rye, and cleft phlox, all candidates for federal listing as endangered plants. Snow trillium, a member of the lily family, occurs in the shallow limestone soils along the Palisades, otherwise it is unknown anywhere else in Kentucky.

The most unusual habitat for vegetation within the Palisades occurs on the rocky riverbanks, called the scour zone, where there is an abundance of:

  • big bluestem
  • wild oats
  • riverbank goldenrod
  • shrubby Saint-John's wort
  • tufted hair grass

The largest forested areas remaining in the Inner Bluegrass are along the Kentucky River: beech and yellow poplars (tulip tree) grow tall on terraces and on the banks of its tributaries; species such as blue ash, chinquapin oak, and sugar maple, with a special mixture of rock elm, yellowwood, and yellow buckeye, dominate the steep slopes above the river.

Animals
Salamanders washed down from eastern Kentucky on the crests of floods now dwell high above the river and are found nowhere else in central Kentucky.

Bobcats still roam the more remote portions of the Palisades, and endangered Gray and Indiana bats, and the rare Keen's bat inhabit caves along the spectacular cliffs; the only known breeding colony of Gray bats in the Bluegrass Region remains in this river corridor. Great blue herons glide over the water, kingfishers perch on branches above the river's edge, and endangered peregrine falcons, recently reintroduced, once again wheel and soar gracefully above the landscape.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Along with The Nature Conservancy, the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission,   Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are working cooperatively to ensure protection of the Palisades.

Projects/Preserves/Places to Visit