Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: March 3, 2024
We hiked several trails totaling 5.75 miles at this park thirty minutes east of Cincinnati noted for beautiful Stonelick Lake and the site of many fossils. We began hiking at Beechtree Trailhead but after a half mile discovered this forest and wetland trail was truly wet, drenched in large puddles from rain earlier in the week (Photo #1). We backtracked and hiked an unnamed spur trail to the lake and back. We drove to Lakeview Trail trailhead and enjoyed periodic views of the lake and dam spillway (Photo #2) as the trail meandered up and down small inclines in the forest and over several streams. After .4 miles we turned east onto the Southwoods Trail for .3 miles, crossing two more streams and passing the park campground. We talked to an 85-year-old man sitting on a log resting who was hiking four miles that day. We ended by hiking the two-mile Red Fox Trail, wet puddles at first and then an enjoyable trail curving through a forest of sugar maple, beech, and oak trees. I saw the first sign of spring, some daffodils beginning to bloom early. Back at the car, we grabbed our brownbag lunches, sat at a bench overlooking the lake and watched many blue herons fly by while we ate.
