Gilmore MetroPark (Blog Hike #43)

Trails: Blue and Red Trails

Hike Location: Gilmore MetroPark

Geographic Location: east side of Fairfield, OH (39.35617,-84.51906)

Length: 2.4 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Dates Hiked: 2004, June 2013

Overview: A flat hike through wetlands, offering good wildlife viewing opportunities.

Park Information: https://www.yourmetroparks.net/parks/gilmore-metropark

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=142167
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From I-275 on the north side of Cincinnati, take exit 41 onto SR 4 and go north on SR 4.  Drive SR 4 north 2.2 miles to By-pass 4 and turn right on By-pass 4.  Take By-pass 4 north 1.4 miles to Symmes Road and turn left on Symmes Rd.  Take Symmes Rd. 1 mile to Gilmore Road and turn right on Gilmore Rd.  Both of these previous two turns occur at traffic lights.  Take Gilmore Rd. north 0.6 miles to the preserve's main blacktop parking lot on the right; park in this lot.

The hike: Set in the industrialized area of eastern Fairfield, scenic Gilmore MetroPark (or Gilmore Ponds as it used to be known) provides a needed home and rest area for many species of flowers, trees, and birds.  Most nature preserves consist of mature or young woods set in rolling terrain with a few creeks or a small pond. This is not the scenery that will greet a visitor to Gilmore Ponds.  Rather, a flat, open, prairie-type setting typifies most of the land, with only some small areas of very young forest. 

Four trails criss-cross this preserve.  The trails have names, but they are most easily identified by color because trails are marked with white carsonite posts containing colored emblems (which I think look like porcupines), each trail with a different color.           

"Boardwalk" on Blue Trail

            Begin this hike on the blue trail, which leaves the parking area going north across a "boardwalk."  The brown boardwalk looks like wood from a distance, but a closer inspection reveals that it is actually composed of a synthetic plastic substance.  After a couple hundred feet, the boardwalk ends and the blue trail turns right to follow a low voltage powerline right-of-way eastward.  Power lines criss-cross the property due to the transformer located just outside the western boundary of the preserve.  The trail follows the power line along a dyke with some shrubs in a floodplain on the right and a drainage canal (probably man-made) on the left.  There is also a fairly well-used railroad on the left.            

Hiking along the dyke

            After passing the first of the four ponds for which the preserve is named, take a detour to the right and find a bird blind and bench that overlook the pond you just passed.  I observed a Canada goose, three turtles, and several frogs while sitting on the bench.  While in the bird blind, a robin not 3 yards away from me was sitting so still I thought it was a statue at first.  This is one of the best places along the trail to observe wildlife, so take some time here to get to know your furry and feathery friends.

Pond at Gilmore Ponds

            After you have seen everything there is to see at the bird blind, return to the blue trail and turn right, continuing along the powerline.  At a couple of points, the drainage to the left has been blocked by a fallen log and some debris, the handy work of nature, man, or a beaver.  After passing another seasonal pond on the right, the trail takes a sharp right turn on the dyke and begins heading due south, leaving the powerline right-of-way.

            Where the blue trail turns right, continue straight and begin hiking the red trail, which still follows the drainage on the left.  After passing a small pond on the right and going through a young black walnut thicket, the trail turns right, descends from the dyke, and crosses a short wooden bridge.

Purple Trail in young woods

            After passing by a large industrial building, the trail passes through a dense, young forest and comes out at another powerline right-of-way.  A carsonite post directs you to the right along the powerline, which is enclosed on either side by honeysuckle.  A couple hundred feet later, the red trail ends at an intersection with the blue trail.  Turn left here on the blue trail, cross through a shallow dip in the trail, and intersect the purple trail, which goes off to the left.

            Keep to the right to stay on the blue trail.  The scenery up to now has consisted mainly of shrubs, ponds, and young forest.  This section of the trail takes you through a more traditional prairie-type environment.  Thistle, goldenrod, nodding onion, prairie grass, and other species you would expect to see in a prairie dominate this portion of the preserve.           

Blue Trail in prairie

            Take a moment to observe wildlife in the cattail marsh from a wooden overlook that sits beside the trail.  Be careful on this overlook: the wood is old and rotting and seems to want to splinter. Continue along the blue trail past a pond and come out behind a picnic area adjacent to the parking lot containing your car.  Reading the plaques along the mulched trail in the picnic area will provide you with some more information about the purpose of and need for places like Gilmore Ponds in an increasingly industrialized world.