When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.-- Carl Bobert, 1886
This week I visited the Twin Valley Metropark which is the southern section of the Twin Creek Metropark district. The northern section is Germantown Metropark, which I have written about previously.
Twin Valley is just off Eby Road south of the village of Germantown in the extreme southwestern portion of Montgomery County, Ohio. On this sparkling but hot day with new growth in full force, the hiking proved a humid and somewhat exhausting experience.
This park has a little of everything for naturalist, hiker and backpacker. Twin Creek is considered a backpacker's park as it has not only overnight camping areas, but well over 40 miles of hiking trails. For hikers it runs the gamut of young successional woods, mature old growth forest, grassland prairies and wetlands.
The portion of the trail I hiked this day roughly 5 miles tasted a little of all of these land characteristics. From where I parked, the trail begins at the peak of a hill offering a wide view of the valley below.
It descends almost immediately first through grassy plains on the hillside then to the start of the forested area as I approach Twin Creek, one of Ohio's cleanest. The trail I chose first followed the creek. This is bottomland hiking and though it was a hot dry day, portions of the trail were still muddy. There is a portion of this trail that allows horseback riding and unfortunately, it tended to create clogs and pockets of dirt making walking that portion of the trail a little more difficult to navigate. I almost wish they would keep the horseback riding confined to its own trails.
For the most part the pathway is dirtpacked though narrow. It covers a vast amount of both flatland, winding narrow ridge climbing about 100 feet in a short distance, up and down the ridgeways, sometimes along precarious passageways with steep slopes back toward the bottomland where on wetter days, one would have to be extremely careful (a hiking stick comes in handy in these areas). Portions of the trail are difficult climbing though the trails are set up in such a way that one could select a more moderate leg if you wanted to enjoy the area without much difficult hiking.
When in the bottomlands along the flood plain, the trail breaks into grassy plains that have the trail moderately mowed so you can continue to follow it. There are the requisite posts alerting you to the trail, which soon moves back into the forested hills as you begin the trek upward toward the ridge peaks.
This time of the year affords a number of flora though with the shading of the trees, some of the flowering is limited. Still, there are wonderful odors of nature as one moves past the various plant growth. While in the prairie areas, there were numerous butterfly swirling about occasionally landing long enough to pose for a photograph. While in the bottomlands where things are much more humid and wet, I came across a number of toads.
The only downside of hiking at this time of the day - just before noon - in the humid areas of the forested pathway, I was plagued at times by flies and gnats, some rather aggressive. This seemed mostly when I was on the portion of the trail where horses are allowed to move. I am sure flies cannot distinguish from one large mammal to another!
One of the nice things about this park are hidden gems you can encounter. I did pass a historical area where the Hopewell Indians over 2000 years ago had built up walls to fortify one of their encampments. While the area is indicated on the map, it is not marked along the trail. I found, what I think were remnants of the wall, now a small area rising upwards along the ridge. It would have been nice to mark the trail with indications of what one might look for to better help imagine the area as it might have been when the Hopewell Indians walked the area. There is new evidence that the Hopewells were the ancestors of the Shawnee Indian tribes who lived in this area in the 17th and 18th centuries.
While walking up out of the bottomlands, I came across - hidden among the wooded area
- the Dogwood Pond, a cool clear fishing spot. While not a fisherman, it provided a perfect spot for relaxing for a while as it is partially shaded. There were a couple of people fishing, but it is remote enough that one has to do a little hiking to get to it. That seems to keep most fisherman out of the area.
Twin Valley Trails is fast becoming one of my favorite close-by places to hike. It affords enough difficulty, pleasant surprises, multiple examples of nature, and a
little history. There are other places with more of any one of those, but none with so complete a mix of all. The trails are designed that you can take a small walk, or an extended hike. It is a hiking area in which you have to be careful as you move along the trail, or one where it is a pleasant walk in the woods along a clear creek. The park is well maintained and the trails are kept up for the most part by a full time staff.
For more photos of this hike go to
here.
there are some small challenges as the wooded section includes some hills which are not for the casual walker. There is a creek that needs to be forded twice and while not deep, currently, at this time of year, there wasn't any simple way to ford without either simply stepping through it, or leaping it, if you didn't have waterproof hiking boots.
Not sure if I was encroaching on private property, I ultimately turned back. However, it did provide a nice discovery. An old tree that was hollowed out and had an appearance of what the British call a Wendy house. It was fun to look at though it did need to have its insides cleared if one wants to step inside it. It will be an interesting addition for children who are able to hike this portion of trail.
