Home » NGPC News » Guided wildflower hike this week at Wildcat Hills

Guided wildflower hike this week at Wildcat Hills

Hoary Vetchling
A hoary vetchling (Lathyrus polymorphus) blooms at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area. (NEBRASKAland/Justin Haag)

GERING, Neb. – The Wildcat Hills Nature Center at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area will celebrate National Wildflower Week with a guided hike through the park’s flora. The Wildflower Walk, an installment of the Wildcat Weekends series of events, will be Friday, June 8, at 7 p.m. at the nature center.

Participants will learn keys to identifying flowering plant species during the mile-long journey.

Amanda Filipi, the Commission outdoor education specialist who is leading the hike, said the unusually wet spring has brought many flowers that she has not seen at the park in past years.

“We have a bunch of flowers in bloom,” she said. “It’s beautiful out here.”

The event is open to the public free of charge, but a park entry permit is required for vehicles. Participants are asked to bring water and wear hiking shoes.

About Justin Haag

Justin Haag has served the Commission as a public information officer in the Panhandle since 2013. His duties include serving as regional editor for NEBRASKAland Magazine. Haag was raised in southwestern Nebraska, where he developed a love for fishing, hunting and other outdoor pursuits. After earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Chadron State College in 1996, he worked four years as an editor and reporter at newspapers in Chadron and McCook. Prior to joining the Commission in 2013, he worked 12 years as a communicator at Chadron State, serving as the institution’s media and public relations coordinator the last five. He and his wife, Cricket, live in Chadron, and have two children.

Check Also

Celebrating 40 Years of the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation

If you love Nebraska’s natural and recreational resources, the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation is …