As we were facing a week with daytime temps in the mid-nineties I pondered what outing I could sell to the photographer. It seemed that the best bet was a hike in shade along a body of water that would hopefully lower the ambient temperature a bit.
This past February I attended an environmental symposium where one of the presenters was the executive director of the Little Miami Conservancy, a regional river conservation organization whose mission is to protect the “National Wild and Scenic” Little Miami River in the southwest corner of Ohio. Other than a hike along its headwaters in Clifton Gorge in Greene County we had not really devoted much study to this outstanding natural resource.
The organization started in 1967 as Little Miami Inc., when the river was neglected, abused, underappreciated, and polluted. Over the 57 years of its existence, it has successfully worked to change the mindset of the communities along the waterway to where the river is generally now seen as both a recreational and economic asset, adding greatly to the quality of life of the residents in the region. Through land acquisition, water quality monitoring, educational programs, and working with municipalities and other environmental organizations, the Little Miami Conservancy strives to safeguard the ecological health of the Little Miami watershed. Their work has been impactful and has added needed greenspace to the eastern margins of Greater Cincinnati and Dayton, areas experiencing tremendous population growth.
Following the lead of the Conservancy, many counties and cities along the Little Miami have added additional public parks and nature preserves to help further the effort to develop a green corridor along the river. When added to the 50 miles of paved rail to trail path that makes up the Little Miami State Park and the over 40 miles of shoreline that the Conservancy has protected through use of conservation easement and land purchase, an ever growing mosaic of of riparian habitat has been set aside.
After my introduction to the Little Miami Conservancy I thought that Footpaths would try to hike some of the public preserves in 2024 and this stretch of August heat seemed like the perfect time. Using the Conservancy’s website, which lists natural areas in addition to their own, I settled on the Narrows Reserve, a property owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources but managed by the Greene County Park District.
The Narrows Reserve is on the upper section of the Little Miami River, about 68 river miles north of where it empties into the Ohio River. The Reserve is a thin stretch of land that borders the stream. The River Loop Trail is the route that delivers a hiker to three other trails.
The Little Miami is a beautiful river to kayak or canoe and the River Loop Trail starts near an inviting canoe launch. Our theory on the cooling effects of the river were confirmed as we approached the water.
The trail itself is flat, working through a wooded flood plain.
For its first half mile the trail was remarkable for some massive, moss covered Sycamore trees. Their canopies appeared to be about 100 feet above us.
Nearby we came upon another large tree – a Linden, perhaps the largest that I have ever seen in a woodland.
As we hiked along the trail there were opportunities to step down onto the rocky shore of the river to enjoy the views of the stream as noted in the title photo and below.
Early into the hike we met a young man toting a fishing pole heading deeper onto the trail. He was telling us about the excellent Small Mouth Bass fishing that the reserve offered. He was on his way to his favorite fishing hole before heading into work. It was not long after that conversation that we saw this – about 50 keeper size Small Mouth Bass clustered in the shade of an overarching Box-elder tree.
Observations that struck us on this hike were the effects of the drought that we were experiencing in the Ohio River Valley. The Little Miami was clearly below its normal water levels, the understory plants were wilting even in the mid-morning, and as can be seen in the third photo below, the trail soil had fissured. In addition, some trees were already beginning to shed their leaves to lessen water loss through transpiration, a survival strategy. This region could really use some rain.
Despite the drought we came upon this wild grape that seemed to have had a bountiful fruiting year. Five species of wild grape occur in Ohio and I believe that this is Frost Grape. While some literature suggest that they can be sour till after the first frost, that was not my experience when I tried one. What was notable was the relative lack of grape pulp when compared to the size of the single seed inside.
Another interesting finding in this parched environment was the condensation that we noted on the underside of numerous large fungi that were along the trail.
These fungi measured six to nine inches in breadth.
All jaunts in the wild can lead to some interesting and, at times, surprising sightings, and this hike was no different.
We tend to think of Goldenrod as being a meadow flower but it can often be found in the filtered sunshine of a woodland. Here we found a single isolated specimen.
Seeing this Tussock Caterpillar brought back a memory. About 30 years ago I was asked to lead a local high school biology class on a tree walk and was accompanied by our second child, Ellen, who was about 4 at the time. Ellen found an interesting caterpillar, similar to the one in the photo below, and shared it with many of the class members who allowed it to crawl across their palms. The next morning they all awoke with a stinging rash on their hands.
The last observation that we wanted to share was this juvenile Eastern Brown Snake that crossed the path just in front of my shoes. The oval head shape tells me that it is non-poisonous. All poisonous snakes have a triangular shaped head. There is quite a bit of color variation with the Eastern Brown, but the dark spot on its head is quite consistent.
In summary, our venture to a preserve that falls under the umbrella of land protected by the Little Miami Conservancy was a great outing. The river helped cool the air as we had hoped and allowed us to have a good hike in the heat of late August. We were excited to see many folks utilizing the trail, whether to enjoy nature, exercise, walk their dogs, or to access a fishing hole. Organizations like the Little Miami Conservancy play a critical role in protecting threatened habits, not only by acquiring lands when they become available, but perhaps more importantly by helping communities realize the untapped economic resource that a ecologically healthy wild river can be. In Greater Cincinnati we are blessed to have a constellation of such organizations who continue to grow our public greenspaces and provide stewardship for threatened habitats.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns
Overview:
Location – 2641 Indian Ripple Road, Xenia, Ohio. It is 58 miles north of downtown Cincinnati.
Parking – asphalt lot for 18 cars.
Facilities – .restroom at the parking area.
Trail Conditions – generally bare dirt with some areas of embedded gravel. Minimal altitude change.
Print Trail Map Link – https://www.gcparkstrails.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Narrows-Trail-Map-060822.pdf
Benches – yes
Picnic Tables – yes, near the parking area.
Kids – Kids 4 and over will do well on the trail and would enjoy the easy descent down onto the river shore to study wildlife.
Dogs – Welcomed on a leash.
Paired Hiking Trails – at the end of the River Loop there are three smaller trails that go through different habitats. There are also two other trails that arise near the parking area, the Old Road Loop and the Vista Loop.
Links:
Narrows Preserve: https://www.gcparkstrails.com/parks/narrows-reserve/
Little Miami Conservancy – this site is an excellent resource to read about many of the public spaces along the Little Miami River. In addition you can request maps to the sections of the Little Miami River that provides better detail: https://www.littlemiami.org/