Three Valley Conservation Trust invites the public to its Great Outdoor Weekend on Saturday and Sunday in Greater Cincinnati, including four locations in the Oxford area.

The weekend event has been coordinated by the Green Umbrella of Greater Cincinnati since 2004. Last year it drew nearly 10,000 visitors to outdoor-oriented venues in the Tri-State area. This year there will be 120 free outdoor and nature programs at more than 50 locations.

For the full program, go to www.greatoutdoorweekend.org.

The Walk and Talk schedule includes the following locations and times:

Three Valley Conservation Trust Office, The Beck Farm at 5920 Morning Sun Road, at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The Edge of the Farm Conservation area at 5398 McCoy Road, 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.

Indian Creek Nature Preserve at 2550 Indian Creek Road, 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.

Talawanda High School Natural Area at 5301 University Park Blvd., 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.

The Edge of the Farm Conservation Area, founded in 2007, is planted in tall and short grass prairies and has five wetlands. The adjacent forests have had more than 11 acres of honeysuckle removed. Hays Cummins will lead a tour of the preserve on the trails across the prairies, wetlands and woods, emphasizing important ecological functions along the way.

Indian Creek Nature Preserve is part of more than 1,000 nearly contiguous acres of permanently protected land along Indian Creek. The varied topography ranges from moist slopes on the western side (the site of horse rustlers’ hidden corals from 1805-1815) that support bluffs of shooting stars and ravines with showy orchis. On the higher and dryer eastern side across the creek, an 11-acre tall grass prairie replaced an upper non-productive soybean field in 2007 and 10 acres of savannah were added in 1007, planted in burr and chinquapin oak last year.

The Talawanda High School Nature Area is the site of the new high school, situated on 147 acres of unused, undisturbed land comprised of wetland, prairie, deciduous forest and agricultural habitats. Jeff Winslow, Science Instructional Leader for the Talawanda district, has worked with students at the high school and Miami University to create a trail system for environmental education.