Caesar Creek Gorge State Nature Preserve (Blog Hike #70)

Trail: Caesar's Trace

Hike Location: Caesar Creek Gorge State Nature Preserve

Geographic Location: northeast of Lebanon, OH (39.49164, -84.10147)

Length: 1.9 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: July 2000, June 2013

Overview: A lollipop loop through the young forest of Caesar Creek Gorge.

Preserve Information: https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/caesar-creek-gorge-state-nature-preserve

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=797260
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Lebanon, go north on US 42 to Old 122, an intersection marked by a flashing yellow light.  Turn right on Old 122.  Take Old 122 into the Little Miami River floodplain and turn right on Middletown Rd. to cross the river on a covered bridge.  At the next intersection, turn right on Corwin Rd.  Proceed 0.5 mile to the preserve parking lot on the left.

The hike: Located in northeastern Warren County, Caesar Creek Gorge State Nature Preserve protects a wild, remote, scenic portion of Caesar Creek.  With Caesar Creek Dam and Lake 5 miles to the east and the Little Miami River just to the west, the preserve is one of the few portions of Caesar Creek left in its natural state.  This portion was a good choice, as it features as the center of the preserve the 100-foot high limestone cliffs of Caesar Creek Gorge.  In addition to the preserve, visitors may be interested in the Little Miami Bike Path, a 65-mile paved bike trail extending from Milford in the south to Springfield in the north.           

Nature preserve trailhead

            The trail begins as a wide mulch path in a small meadow at the far side of the parking lot. After entering the young forest, the trail soon intersects an old roadbed, where a white arrow on a brown post directs you to turn right.  Caesar's Trace is supposedly named for a black slave named Cizar taken captive by the Shawnee Indians.  In 1776, when pioneer Simon Kenton was planning his escape from Shawnee captivity, Cizar advised Simon that following "his creek" to the Little Miami River was the best route to avoid detection.  Simon's escape was successful, the creek became known as Caesar's Creek, and the trail Simon used became known as Caesar's Trace.

            The wide trail heads uphill through forest dominated by oak with a few beech trees and an occasional red cedar.  After following the old road for about 300 feet, another post directs you to turn left onto a narrow dirt trail.  This intersection forms the loop portion of the hike, and I suggest turning left to follow the arrows so that the course is marked.  The trail drops steeply to lose the elevation you just gained and return to the floodplain.  This part of the trail is extremely narrow, so I recommend pants for this hike.  Also, butterflies and other insects are very plentiful throughout the warmer months.           

Hiking through the floodplain

            After crossing a short wooden bridge, the trail continues through floodplain forest as the creek can be heard but usually not seen on the left.  A few sycamores, black walnuts, and ash are mixed into the forest composition with a dense understory of paw paw, garlic mustard, poison ivy, and Solomon’s seal.  The rippling creek soon becomes visible on the left as a few short side trails lead to the creek's edge.            

Caesar Creek

            Soon after reaching the creek, the off-white limestone cliffs come into view on the opposite side of the creek.  This is a good point to describe the formation of the gorge.  The creek valley underwent drastic changes in the last ice age.  Caesar Creek used to flow east into the ancient Teays River.  As the ice from the last ice age began to melt from south to north, water began backing up, held back by rock and ice.  Once a weakness was found, massive amounts of water began pouring through the gap causing large amounts of erosion.  One of those gaps formed the gorge we see today.  Furthermore, the melted ice flowing into the Little Miami River reversed the course of the creek to the westward one of the present day.

            Past the bedrock exposure, the trail turns away from the creek and passes an osage orange tree, an indicator of the land's past use by humans.  Next, the trail climbs 6 wooden steps to intersect an old road and turns right to begin climbing on a broad path out of the gorge.  At first the climb is gentle, but it soon steepens on a rocky, eroded course.            

Grassy meadow trail

            Once atop the hill, the trail surface turns to grass as it comes out into a sunny meadow intermingled with red cedar trees.  This land is in the very early stages of succession from farmland to mature forest; it was probably being farmed less than 50 years ago.  The trail soon intersects a low voltage power line swath and turns gently right to follow it.  After 750 feet of following the powerline, the trail turns right and begins descending toward the trailhead, back in the forest.  Soon passing the outward portion of the loop, the trail continues downhill to arrive at the parking lot and complete the hike.