Miami University, Middletown (Blog Hike #58)

Trail: MUM Nature Trail

Hike Location: Miami University, Middletown

Geographic Location: east side of Middletown, OH (39.5223, -84.35607)

Length: 1.5 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Dates Hiked: February 2000, June 2013

Overview: A suburban loop hike through beautiful, mesophytic forest.

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=146409
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: Take I-75 to SR 122 (exit 32) and go west on SR 122.  Take SR 122 a little over 2 miles to Briel Blvd. and turn right onto Briel Blvd.  Take Briel Blvd. north 1.3 miles to the entrance to the Miami University Middletown campus and turn left to enter the campus.  Park in the first parking lot on the left.  There is a brown sign that says "MUM Nature Trail" at the parking lot.

The hike: Miami University, Middletown (MUM) is an offshoot of Miami's main campus in Oxford, some 20 miles west.  Like its parent in Oxford, MUM maintains a network of well-designed and maintained trails along the perimeter of its campus.  Outside of MUM’s students and faculty, these trails, open to the public, are little-known and seldom-used.  This is a shame because, given this trail's location in the bustling city of Middletown, a walk through this forest yields a good deal of solitude and offers pleasant scenery any time of the year.           

Trailhead: MUM Nature Trail

            The trail begins at an information kiosk on the very northeast side of the parking lot.  Heading east, the trail immediately enters a mesophytic forest dominated by oak and begins ascending moderately toward Briel Blvd.  The understory in this part of the forest is sparse, with only an occasional honeysuckle bush.  The trail approaches, but never reaches, a wire fence marking the boundary of the preserve before making a sweeping 180-degree turn.                       

Nature Trail in mature forest

            Now winding westward through the best forest on the trail, the trail crosses several shallow drainages, each with the aid of a wooden bridge, before coming to the edge of a larger ravine.  The trail drops into the ravine using a single switchback, crosses the creek, then ascends the opposite bank rather steeply.  Note that the parking lot can be accessed from this point on the trail, allowing you to short-circuit this hike if desired.

            Once the hill is ascended, the composition of the forest changes considerably.  This section is much younger than the part you just departed and consists primarily of maple and ash.  Furthermore, the understory contains a dense covering of honeysuckle.  The trail shortly reaches a bare spot on top of a hill which contains some concrete and steel pillars, possibly foundation supports from an old building.            

Nature trail in young forest

            From this point, trail conditions deteriorate somewhat.  The trail descending the hill takes a direct route rather than the winding and switchbacks that were utilized earlier.  As a result, the grade is steeper, and trail erosion has become a problem.  This problem could be eliminated with the constructions suggested above or by installing a few waterbars.  About half-way down the long hill, cross a blacktop maintenance road that leads to the gymnasium.  At the bottom of the hill, the trail comes out beside some tennis courts on the western side of campus.

Angle to the right to intersect a blacktop road.  Although the trail does continue across the road by ascending some stone steps, this part of the trail was closed due to a building under construction when I hiked this trail.  The trail eventually ends at the main campus road near Verity Lodge.  For this hike, turn right on the blacktop road and follow it around a vehicle gate back to the parking lot to finish the hike.