Edge of Appalachia: The Wilderness Trail (Blog Hike #150)

Trail: Wilderness Trail

Hike Location: Edge of Appalachia Preserve, Charles A. Eulett Wilderness Preserve

Geographic Location: east of West Union, OH (38.77938, -83.41760)

Length: 2.3 miles

Difficulty: 7/10 (Moderate/Difficult)

Dates Hiked: June 2004, October 2015

Overview: A difficult woodland trail over steep terrain featuring dolomite cliffs.

Trail Information: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/edge-of-appalachia-the-wilderness-trail/

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=940180
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From West Union, head east on SR 125.  Take SR 125 7.6 miles to Lynx Road and turn left on Lynx Road.  Take Lynx Road east 0.4 miles to Shivener Rd. and turn left on Shivener Rd.  Shivener Rd. shortly becomes a gravel road.  Take Shivener Rd. north 0.6 miles to the gravel pull-out on the left.  Just past this pull-out, a wire fence blocks access to the Museum Center youth camp property.

The hike: Have you ever heard of the Adams County branch of the Cincinnati Museum Center?  If you haven’t, you are not alone.  While most people think of the Museum Center as the restored Union Terminal in downtown Cincinnati, the Museum Center also manages a nature camp for youth built around this trail.  On a summer day, you might find a van with Hamilton County license plates parked in the parking area beside you, having just made the two-hour trip east with several young people.

            This trail passes through a portion of the preserve known for many years as “the Wilderness.”  After a visit to this area in 1961, a famous Ohio botanist called the area a “howling wilderness,” and since then the name has stuck.  Actually, the terrain is no more harsh than that at Buzzardroost Rock located just a few miles down the road.  As with that hike, this trail should only be attempted by those in decent health, as some difficulty will be encountered, especially on the trip back uphill to the trailhead.

Trailhead: The Wilderness Trail

            The trail begins at an opening in the fence about 30 feet left (south) of the trailhead.  Go through this opening and immediately begin a gradual descent toward a small stream on the left.  The trail is well-marked with frequent yellow blazes.  These blazes do come in handy: this trail is the newest (opened in 2001) and least traveled in the preserve, so the trail will sometimes be difficult to discern.  Make sure you keep on a watch for the blazes, and you won’t get lost.  Also due to the light traffic, numerous spiders like to spin their webs across the trail.  Bring your hiking stick so that it will break the webs instead of your face.

Descending on The Wilderness Trail

            0.4 miles into the hike, as the trail curves to the right and climbs slightly, look for some short, light green evergreen trees on the right of the trail.  These trees are white cedar (not to be confused with the more typical red cedar) and are rarely found this far south.  Some people believe that these cedars are holdovers from the last ice age, while others think that these cedars have migrated north from the cooler ridgetops in the higher elevations of the Appalachians.  Either way, to see white cedar trees in southern Ohio is an unusual sight, so take a few minutes to observe these trees.

            Continuing downhill, the trail passes over a shallow rock shelter (which can be seen underneath you to the left) and some dolomite cliffs visible through the trees uphill to the right.  0.75 miles into the hike, after finishing the steepest descent of the hike, the trail curves right and levels out at an elevation about 175 feet below where you started.  The forest here is very young with lots of sunlight reaching the floor, allowing a thick stand of paw paw bushes to grow in the understory.

Dolomite cliffs

            The trail continues to lose elevation gradually until, 1.5 miles into the hike, the trail crosses a gravelly stream without the aid of a bridge.  The water is only a couple inches deep under normal water tables, so you should be able to cross without getting your feet too wet.  This stream crossing marks the lowest point on the hike, 275 feet below the trailhead.

            The trail now follows the north side of the ravine and begins the most difficult climb of the hike, gaining 120 feet of elevation in about 0.2 miles.  More dolomite cliffs can be seen to the left.  At the top of the steepest section, the trail turns right, crosses a stream on a wooden footbridge, and begins a more moderate climb out of the head of the ravine.

            2.3 mile into the hike, the trail comes out at a small prairie opening that is also used as a power line swath.  Notice the warmer environment of the prairie opening and the different kind of plants and insects that this environment supports.  The trail narrows as it climbs through the prairie and reenters the forest on the other side.

Small prairie opening

            In only another 0.1 miles, the trail comes out at the Museum Center camp behind an old barn.  Hike straight ahead and you will arrive at the end of Shivener Rd.  A short walk up one final hill along the gravel road will return you to the parking lot, thus completing the hike.