Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Holly Eller
Date: June 21, 2026
This was my second park that we visited to hike on Father’s Day. As we pulled up to this 24-acre forested wildlife sanctuary park, the historical marker at the park entrance really caught my attention – the site of many mysteries including tales of bigfoot, hidden mines and lost skunks. Wow! I will have to research these cryptid/paranormal claims and the legend and lore of this park land. The name Devil’s Backbone comes from the dramatic, rocky, limestone ridge that towers over Paint Creek (similar to the Devil’s Backbone in western Moraine overlooking the Miami River). Signage states it is dangerous and off limits and warns hikers to stay away from it.
We hiked two trails. The Blue Trail was only .3 miles long and took us down to Paint Creek but what a gold mine it was. Everywhere along this deep gorge were rocks and we easily found dozens and dozens of fossils such as horned coral, brachiopods and bryozoans along the creek bank. We ascended back up to the parking area and then took the one-mile Orange Loop Trail. This trail took us deeper into the thick woods eventually coming to a small loop trail which branched off this larger loop trail. This trail had a tall canopy of trees giving us plenty of shade on this hot day. However, we had no sightings of Bigfoot or lost skunks.
