Jefferson Memorial Forest

Jefferson Memorial Forest is a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life, and it's only 15 miles from downtown Louisville.

With more than 6,000 acres of forest, there are great opportunities for camping, fishing, hiking and more.

We started our visit at the Welcome Center near the Tom Wallace Recreation Area on Mitchell Hill Road. The Welcome Center has maps and snacks. We also rented an "Eco-Adventure" kit for the kids for $5. The kit contains binoculars, a magnifying glass, specimen jar, thermometers, a workbook, guides to trees, birds and wildflowers, and more.

We used the workbook as we hiked around Tom Wallace Lake to identify some of the trees and flowers that we saw. We compared the temperature of the air, soil and water, and we used the specimen jar to briefly capture a small frog so we could examine him with our magnifying glass.

The trail ended at a playground, so the boys were able to use up more of their energy before we enjoyed a picnic lunch. We finished our half day at the park with a hike on the 1/4-mile Tulip Trail, which featured 10 trees that had been marked for identification. Our workbook gave us useful insights into each tree.