Siegenthaler-Kaestner Esker State Nature Preserve (Blog Hike #178)

Trail: (unnamed)

Hike Location: Siegenthaler-Kaestner Esker State Nature Preserve

Geographic Location: west of West Liberty, OH (40.23457, -83.85374)

Length: 1 mile

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Dates Hiked: June 2005, June 2013

Overview: A lollipop loop to one of Ohio’s rarest landforms.

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

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=177611
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From West Liberty, go west on SR 245 5 miles to Church Rd.  Turn right on Church Rd.  Take Church Rd. south 1 mile to Couchman Rd.  Turn right on Couchman Rd.  Take Couchman Rd. 0.5 miles to the preserve on your left.

The hike: Have you ever heard of an esker?  If you haven’t, you’re probably not alone.  An esker is a mound of gravel deposited by rushing waters from melting glaciers.  At the end of the last ice age, water from the melting ice sheets covering this part of the state headed through gaps in the ice toward the modern-day Great Miami River.  At points where the water got delayed, gravel carried by the water became deposited.  These deposits remained above ground as the ice sheets continued to melt.

            A few hundred years ago many eskers could be seen across the plains of central Ohio, but many have disappeared under concrete or the farmer’s plow.  Siegenthaler Esker, named for Vaughn and Frieda Siegenthaler who donated the land in 1978, is one of the few that remain.  Thanks to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Siegenthalers, this important piece of geological history will be preserved forever as a state nature preserve.  Better yet, the esker can be accessed by the general public via a short and easy nature trail.           

Sign at trailhead

           

Hiking along the easement

            Begin by going through the gate and following the two-track dirt trail as it heads south along a preserve easement between two fields.  A small hardwood planting to the right on some property the state has just purchased provides some shade on warm sunny days.  After 0.3 miles of rolling walking along the easement, the trail turns sharply right away from the preserve boundary.  At 0.4 miles, arrive at the base of the esker.           

Approaching the esker

            The esker appears as a hill jutting out of the countryside.  It looks mighty strange in the rolling farmland of northern Champaign County.  The esker is covered with prairie plants, most of them alien, with a mowed path maintained across the top.  At the base of the esker, the trail forks, with options going right or left along the base of the esker.  To access the path along the top of the esker, take the base path either direction to the north or south end of the esker.  Arbitrarily, I chose to go right to the north end.  The esker stands about 15 feet above the surrounding land, so it is a bit of a climb to reach the top.  Once the top is reached, a good view of the countryside and surrounding young forest can be had.

            Proceed south along the top of the esker, heading down its spine.  Notice the large chunks of non-native rock in the ground beneath you, evidence of the esker’s origins.  At the southern end of the esker, look to the south and view another esker located in the preserve.  This southern esker, however, is not accessible by trail.           

Cow in adjacent field

            The topside trail drops back down to intersect the base trail.  There is only one trail that accesses the esker, so turn left and walk along the base trail to return you to the fork where you first arrived.  A right turn and a walk back out along the easement will return you to your car and complete the hike.