Paint Creek State Park: Little Pond and Harmony Trails (Blog Hike #975)

Trails: Little Pond and Harmony Trails
Hike Location: Paint Creek State Park
Geographic Location: between Hillsboro, OH and Chillicothe, OH (39.25130, -83.35641)
Length: 2.9 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: October 2023
Overview: Two short loops, one around a pond and another beside Paint Creek and some cliffs.
Park Information: https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/paint-creek-state-park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=949633
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: Just east of the Ross/Highland county line, take US 50 to Rapid Forge Road and turn north on Rapid Forge Rd.  Drive Rapid Forge Rd. north 2.2 miles to the signed park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, then park in the first parking lot on the right where the Little Pond Trail begins.  If you want to drive to the Harmony Trail's start, continue south on the park road to cross the dam, then turn left and drive downhill to the picnic area parking lot below the dam.

The hike: Straddling the Ross/Highland County line in south-central Ohio, Paint Creek State Park was established in 1972 as part of Ohio's great reservoir and state park building era.  The park protects 5652 acres along its namesake creek and reservoir, and it sits on the boundary between glaciated north/west Ohio and unglaciated south/east Ohio.  Several rare plants live here including the Sullivantia and the Smooth Cliffbrake fern.

            Like most parks from its era, Paint Creek State Park has many amenities including a swimming beach and marina on Paint Creek Lake, a 197-site developed campground, a 21 hole disc golf course, and several picnic areas.  In terms of trails, the park offers 25 miles of bridle trails, 12 miles of mountain bike trails, and several miles of hiking trails.  The park's longest hikes all involve the bridle trails, but this hike combines two short hiker-only trails with a road walk to explore both the area above and the area below Paint Creek Dam.

Trailhead for Little Pond Trail

            Begin with the Little Pond Trail, which starts beside its namesake pond downhill and behind the restroom building.  A small brown sign bearing the universal hiker symbol marks this trailhead.  The Little Pond Trail forms a tight loop around its namesake pond.  The leaves on the sycamore, oak, and beech trees that line this pond were in full fall colors when I hiked here in late October, and lush honeysuckle dominated the understory.

Little Pond

            At 0.25 miles, the trail crosses a wooden bridge over Little Pond's main feeder stream.  Winding and minor undulations take you down the west side of the pond.  At 0.6 miles, you reach a trail intersection at the pond's dam.  We will eventually turn left to cross the dam, but first continue straight to climb a small hill and reach a wooden overlook platform.  This platform overlooks a narrow rocky gorge that sits downstream from Little Pond's dam, and you can also see Paint Creek Lake further downhill to the right from here.

Rocky gorge below pond dam

            A trail that connects to the park's bridle trail system continues past the platform, but this hike returns to Little Pond's dam and crosses the dam.  Curving right and climbing slightly brings you to a second overlook platform on the opposite side of the narrow gorge from the one you visited earlier.  A support pier suggests a bridge may have connected these two overlook platforms in the past.  Passing over a final hill returns you to the parking lot to complete the Little Pond Trail.

Start of Harmony Trail

            Your next task is to get to the start of the Harmony Trail, the other trail on this hike.  You can hike there by hiking the main park road southeast across Paint Creek Dam and then turning left to descend on another park road to the picnic area where the Harmony Trail begins.  Alternatively, you could drive to the picnic area parking lot on the park roads; the road distance is about 0.6 miles one way.

Paint Creek below the dam

            Walk through the picnic area but stay close to the creek to begin a clockwise journey around the Harmony Trail.  Some nice views across Paint Creek poke through the trees to the left, and the cliffs you see across the creek hint at the scenery that lays ahead.  The wide flat dirt trail stays close to the creek on the left.  Park maintenance personnel were blowing leaf litter off of the trail with lawn mowers when I hiked here.

Cliffs above Harmony Trail

            1.9 miles into the hike, the trail curves right as the scenic limestone cliffs appear on the left.  The cliffs grow taller and get closer to the trail as you continue north, and some interesting cracks in the cliffs become evident.  At 2.3 miles, you return to the picnic area and close the loop.  Retrace the road walk 0.6 miles to return to the Little Pond Trailhead and complete the hike.