East Fork State Park: Camp #1 Loop (Blog Hike #110)

Trails: Backpack and World-walker Trails

Hike Location: East Fork State Park

Geographic Location: east of Amelia, OH (39.00651, -84.14173)

Length: 4.5 miles

Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: October 2001, August 2017

Overview: A moderate state park hike through the forest on the south shore of Harsha Lake.

Park Information: https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/east-fork-state-park

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=717676
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Amelia, go east on SR 125.  At the traffic light where SR 222 goes right, turn left onto Bantam-Williamsburg Rd.  Proceed 0.2 miles to the state park entrance and turn left to enter the park.  Take the main park road 0.3 miles to the gravel road leading left to the main backpack trailhead.  Drive 0.1 miles on the gravel road, passing a pond on the right, to the large gravel parking lot beside the trailhead.  Park in this parking lot.

The hike: At 10,100 acres, East Fork State Park is one of the largest state parks in Ohio. The park encircles William H. Harsha Lake, a 2100 acre lake created by damming the East Fork of the Little Miami River in 1978.  The beach on the south shore of the lake becomes packed on warm summer afternoons.  Other than the beach and a few picnic areas, the state park is relatively undeveloped, making for thousands of acres of uninterrupted forest for hunting and hiking.  Due to the land allocation and its location only 25 miles east of Cincinnati, this park is a magnet for people who enjoy the outdoors.

            As far as hiking goes, 73 miles of trails weave through the young forest surrounding the lake.  Most of this mileage is contained within two long-distance backpacking trails.  The 14 mile Backpack Trail stays on the south shore of Harsha Lake and can be walked either as a long day-hike or as a multi-day trip.  It is popular during the summer with backpackers from Cincinnati because the first campground can be reached on a Friday night after work. 

The other main trail is the 32 mile Perimeter Trail, recently renamed the Steve Newman Worldwalker Trail for the local man that walked around the world in 1989.  This trail circles Harsha Lake and takes 2 or 3 days to hike.  Our hike combines parts of both of these trails to create this 4.5 mile hike.  This is a loop hike with numerous potential access points.  I have chosen the park’s main hiking trailhead because it is well marked and easy to find.

Information kiosk at main trailhead

             The hike starts at the information kiosk for the Backpack Trail, located on the north side of the parking area.  The Backpack Trail is blazed with orange blazes.  This trail is also a portion of the American Discovery Trail, so the light blue ADT blazes can be helpful as well.  The trail heads north through very young forest comprised of a dense mixture of maple and ash.  In 0.2 miles, the trail crosses a noticeable natural boundary as it enters a deep ravine.  The maple forest along the ravine is more mature than the forest at the start of the hike.

Entering the woods on the Backpack Trail

             The trail drops into the ravine and crosses a wide, rocky creek without the aid of a bridge.  This crossing could be difficult or dangerous during times of high water, but it is usually an easy rock-hop.  On the opposite side of the creek, the trail uses numerous switchbacks to gain elevation.  The hillside is not extremely steep, so the switchbacks may not be necessary.  Still, the extra turns make the hiking significantly easier.

Now heading north, the trail dips through another shallow ravine and begins treading a fairly constant elevation along the hillside above the main stream.  Just as the lake comes into view, the trail turns abruptly right and leaves the main stream behind for good.  Now heading east parallel to the lake shore, the trail stays out of view of the lake while crossing five small tributaries, each at the bottom of a shallow ravine, before coming out at the road leading to the boat ramp.

Approaching the park road

             With the lake in clear view straight ahead, the trail crosses the road and descends a steep set of steps to reach a point only 20 feet above the lake, the lowest point on the hike.  The trail crosses three additional tributaries while climbing away from the lake before reaching the beach access road.  Reenter the woods across the road and soon reach a picnic table that appears to be alone in the middle of the forest.  Actually, it is part of a larger picnic area, which the trail now skirts.  This picnic table makes a nice resting spot at the midpoint of the hike.

With the biggest hills behind, the trail climbs slightly, crosses a small drainage, and begins treading a constant elevation about 60 feet above the lake, which is now in clear view to the left.  The trail finally turns right away from the lake and reaches an intersection.  The main Backpack Trail continues left for another 11 miles, but our hike angles right onto a trail marked “Overnight Camp #1.”  This trail serves a double function in that it connects the Backpack Trail to a primitive camping area and links the Backpack Trail to the Worldwalker Perimeter Trail.  Of course, we will use it for the latter function.

The connector trail, marked with white blazes, crosses the main park road and enters much younger forest.  Some spots on this trail become rather wet after a nice rain, so come prepared.  In 0.5 miles pass through the primitive camping area, and shortly thereafter come to a creek.  When I hiked this trail, one would have to get wet feet to cross this creek at the trail crossing, but the creek could easily be rock-hopped either shortly upstream of downstream from this location.

Hiking the Worldwalker Perimeter Trail

             Once across the creek, the trail climbs slightly to intersect the Worldwalker Perimeter Trail, which is marked with green.  Turn right on this trail, heading for a private building before turning right to enter the forest.  The trail crosses a small drainage and then enters an old field.  The final 0.5 miles of this hike pass through a dense red cedar forest before intersecting the main park road directly across from the gravel road leading to the trailhead.  Walk down this gravel road, pausing to look for frogs or turtles in the pond before reaching the parking lot, thus completing the hike.