Taylorsville MetroPark: Orange and Yellow Trails (Blog Hike #143)

Trails: Orange and Yellow Trails

Hike Location: Taylorsville MetroPark

Geographic Location: east side of Vandalia, OH (39.88135, -84.15604)

Length: 4.5 miles

Difficulty: 9/10 (Difficult)

Dates Hiked: April 2004, July 2016

Overview: A fairly difficult hike, first along the talus slopes below US 40, then along the banks of the Great Miami River.

Park Information: https://www.metroparks.org/places-to-go/taylorsville/

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=940182
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: Just east of I-75, take I-70 to SR 202 (exit 36).  Exit and go north on SR 202.  Take SR 202 north 1.9 miles to US 40 and turn left on US 40.  Take US 40 west 2.2 miles to the entrance road on the right.  Turn right and park in the first and only parking area.

The hike: Montgomery County boasts some of the best Metroparks in southwestern Ohio.  Many of these parks result from a 1913 initiative to protect downtown Dayton from another massive flood of the Great Miami River.  What is interesting to note is that, of the many dams that were constructed, only one was along the Great Miami River itself.  This dam was constructed ten miles north of Dayton near the town of Vandalia, and it is the area behind this dam that comprises Taylorsville MetroPark today.

            The park was developed early on, and the picnic shelter standing just downhill from the parking lot was built by the Depression Era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  There are numerous picnic shelters throughout the park, a large sledding hill, and a few group campsites.  West of the river, one can view the remnants of an aqueduct used to transport boats along the Miami-Erie Canal, a major waterway in the canal days of the early to mid 1800’s.  East of the river lies a well-developed system of scenic, challenging, and color-coded trails, all of which depart from the parking lot.  Combining the Orange and Yellow Trails forms the longest loop through the trail system, which is the route described here.

Main trailhead

            From the information board, pick up a park brochure and head downhill using some stone steps past the CCC picnic shelter mentioned above, which is labeled as post #1 for this trail system.  Look to the right for a wooden post marked with yellow, green, and orange dots.  The trail begins here, entering the woods and heading north.

            Where the Orange and Yellow Trails part ways, continue straight on the Orange Trail to hike the northern-most loop first.  After only 0.1 miles, come to the base of a rock outcrop.  The rocks tower some 20 feet above the hiker, and a creek filters down through the talus at the bottom of the outcrop.  This area has been active recently, as in 1984 a large boulder came crashing down from the cliff above.  The rocks show no signs of further erosion today, and you can view some of the micro “caverns” that water has formed over time in the rocks.

  Boulders along Orange Trail

            The trail traverses the rocks with a combination of stone steps and boardwalks before heading gently uphill.  This gentle slope is short lived, as the trail next drops into the first of several steep ravines before rising to reach post #3 where the Orange Trail splits to form its loop.  To hike the loop counterclockwise, continue straight on the Orange Trail as it drops steeply into the next ravine.  This ravine requires switchbacks to traverse, and at 0.6 miles into the hike, climb to post #4 where a faint trail exits downhill to the left.  All of the trails that exit left eventually rejoin the Orange Trail along the river, so this hike could be shortened by choosing any of them.

            Three more ravines must be traversed, but these are not as steep as the previous ones.  At 1.8 miles, the trail comes out at a powerline right of way that marks the northern boundary of the park.  The trail curves left here and heads gently downhill under the electric lines.  After entering the edge of the woods on the north side of the swath, the trail arrives at a wooden overlook that provides a view of the Great Miami River floodplain.  The river itself is not visible here unless the dam downstream is holding back water.  In this case, the trail ahead will be flooded and you will need to take one of the connector trails back uphill.

            From the overlook, the trail finishes its descent to floodplain level, then begins heading south, crossing each of the streams whose ravines you traversed earlier.  Most of these crossings are unbridged, but the creeks are not wide enough to pose serious problems except during periods of high water tables.  Your first view of the Great Miami River itself comes at 2 miles into the hike.

Great Miami River, as seen from Taylorsville Dam

            The mile of hiking along the river is the easiest, as the trail remains just above the river at an even elevation.  You can tell how often the river reaches trail level by the amount of woody debris left along the trail.  Lots of debris indicates a recent rise to that level.  Notice a few boulders in the riverbed that seem out of place in a prairie river such as the Great Miami.  How did these rocks get here?  Remember the cliffs you walked beneath in the first part of this hike?  Gravity and erosion strike again!

Overlook on Yellow Trail

            3.2 miles into the hike, the Orange Trail curves left to head uphill and close its loop.  Turn right, and then turn right again to begin the Yellow Trail's loop, which you are hiking counterclockwise.  Very quickly you reach a second platform overlook, but this one is surrounded by trees.  The Yellow Trail curves left at the overlook and becomes more rugged as it clings to the hillside above the river.  A couple of steep sections and an increasing amount of flood debris characterize the section of this hike between the overlook and Taylorsville Dam, which can be seen from the trail.  Notice how the dam is constructed so that water is only retained when the river gets sufficiently high, allowing the land behind the dam to be used for recreation purposes at other times of the year.

            At 4 miles and just before reaching the dam itself, the trail takes a sharp left turn at post #8 and heads steeply uphill.  A post with a yellow dot on the hillside indicates you are still on the right trail.  The trail climbs some 80 feet to a bluff that separates the river on the left and US 40 on the right.  The bluff is topped by a small pine planting, and views can be had down either side of the hogsback.

Hiking the Yellow Trail

            After 0.4 miles of ridgetop walking, the trail turns sharply left to intersect the Green Trail at post #7, where another post with an orange dot indicates that the combined trail turns right.  Another 0.1 miles will return you to post #1 and close the loop.  A right hand turn and uphill hike will return you to the parking lot, thus completing the hike.