When: May 1, 2025 @ 5:30 pm
Walk through the seasons with Mainspring!
Once a month, spend your Thursday evening taking a casual stroll with a naturalist! We’ll amble through one of Mainspring’s preserves, taking the time to appreciate and learn about this season’s happenings. Our schedule changes with the seasons; this month’s focus is wildflowers. What different flowers can we find in the different habitats at Tessentee Bottomland Preserve? What native animals depend on these flowers? Are any of them edible or medicinal? As always, though we will be focusing on flowers during this event, we are open to discussing any naturalist topics you may be interested in!
This event is free and open to the public, and registration is not required to attend. Just bring yourself, your water bottle, and your curiosity! We’ll meet in the parking lot of Tessentee Bottomland Preserve just before 5:30pm on Thursday, May 1st. See the map at the bottom of the page for exact location. The walk will take about an hour and a half, and is over surfaces of varying grades, widths, and substrates. Trails at Tessentee are rated as easy or easy-moderate, but natural surface paths that involve stepping over roots and rocks. We will be back at the trailhead by sunset.
This event is weather-dependent; we will update this listing and our social media with any scheduling changes. Please leave pets at home. Location changes per month, see the schedule below. Email Skye with any questions.
2025 SCHEDULE:
February 6th, 4:00pm-5:30pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Winter Wildlife
March 6th, 4:30pm-6:00pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Early Spring Flowers
April 3rd, 5:00pm-6:30pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Birding
May 1st, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Wildflowers
June 5th, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Welch Farm in Andrews: Salamanders
July 10th, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin, 9:00pm-10:00pm: Full Buck Moon
August 7th, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Mushrooms
September 18th, 5:30pm-7:00pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Birding
October 16th, 5:00pm-6:30pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Fall Foliage
November 6th, 3:30pm-5:00pm, Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Franklin: Mosses
December 4th, 3:30pm-5:00pm, Welch Farm Preserve in Andrews: Winter Tree ID
MEET YOUR NATURALIST
As Mainspring’s Conservation Outreach Director, Skye Cahoon inspires people to connect with their local landscape and value the conservation efforts that protect it. As a kid, she could often be found climbing trees, hunting for salamanders, or chasing fish at her local swimming hole. Her passion for nature grew with her, and in 2020 she earned her Zoology B.S. from the University of Maine. Integrating her experience in wildlife research with her excitement about the natural world, Skye now strives to make science fun and accessible. She leads a variety of educational programs here at Mainspring, and enjoys continuing to learn about the creatures that call the Southern Appalachians home.
