Shawnee Lookout County Park: Blue Jacket Trail (Blog Hike #12)

Trail: Blue Jacket Trail

Hike Location: Shawnee Lookout County Park

Geographic Location: southwest of Cleves, OH (39.12500,-84.79086)

Length: 1.3 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Dates Hiked: 1997, 2002, January 2015

Overview: A short hike featuring a single overlook of the Great Miami River.

Park Information: http://www.greatparks.org/parks/shawnee-lookout

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=716338
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: On the west side of Cincinnati, take I-275 exit to US 50 (exit 16).  Exit and turn right on US 50.  Drive US 50 east 3.4 miles, crossing into Ohio on the way, to Lawrenceburg Road; there is a traffic light at this intersection.  Turn right on Lawrenceburg Rd.  Drive Lawrenceburg Rd. 2.1 miles to the park entrance on the left.  Parking for the Little Turtle and Blue Jacket Trails is located on the right a short distance past the golf course.

The hike: For my general comments on Shawnee Lookout County Park, see the Miami Fort Trail description.  The Blue Jacket Trail, named for the famous Shawnee Indian chief, may be the least of the park’s three trails because significant portions of the trail pass under annoying high-voltage power lines.  Nevertheless, the trail offers an interesting hike to an excellent overlook of the Great Miami River and points in Indiana beyond.

Trailhead: Blue Jacket Trail

            The Blue Jacket Trail shares a trailhead with the longer Little Turtle Trail, which begins across the road.  Our trail begins at a large wooden sign on the right (north) side of the parking lot.  The gravel path immediately heads downhill into a young ash and juniper forest. 

Descending on Blue Jacket Trail

            At the bottom of the hill, the gravel trail turns to grass as it passes under the first of four high-voltage powerlines.  The land under the powerlines has not been planted and is covered with typical field species.  One of the power line clearings gives a nice view of the golf course to your right.  Note that this portion of the trail does not drain well and can become somewhat muddy during the wet season.

View up power line clearing

            The trail soon comes to a split that forms the loop portion of the trail.  Out of habit, I usually go to the right here and use the left trail as the return route.  Going right, after passing under the last power line, the trail reenters the trees and passes through a small patch of more mature forest.  Of particular note is a decent-sized sycamore to the left of the trail and numerous second-growth maples. 

The next point of interest is an overlook where the trees and shrubs beside the trail have been cut down to provide a lookout.  From this point, the hiker can look westward well into the hills of Indiana, which lie just beyond the Great Miami River in the foreground.

Great Miami River overlook

            Passing the overlook, the trail takes a sharp left turn back into the patch of mature forest.  There is a dense understory of paw paw bushes in this area.  In the middle morning, beams of sunlight sneak around the large leaves of these paw paw bushes to give the area a shining, glorious quality. 

After crossing a small creek, the trail climbs up some wooden steps, the first major climb of the hike, to arrive at the powerline right-of-way again.  Shortly thereafter, the trail rejoins the outward portion of the trail to close the loop.  A moderately steep uphill climb remains to return you to the parking lot and complete the hike.