The Tailwaters Trail did not, in fact, have much to do with the tailwaters of the East Fork of the Little Miami River. It is called “Tailwaters Trail” because it arises from the Tailwaters picnic area at the park, but immediately heads away from the river.
My daughter Caroline and I became increasingly excited as we approached the park. The road allowed for frequent glimpses of the beautiful waterway – slate gray, lined by stately Sycamores, with fishing herons, and some white-water turbulence.
We had asked Google Maps to direct us to the Trailwaters trailhead and it seemed confident, but it delivered us to the end of a one lane country road that only offered a school bus turn around and no room to park. We detoured to the Tailwaters picnic area as the park map suggested a trailhead there, marked with a pink star on the map below.
The parking area is at the base of the dam and we crossed over the spillway, hoping to hike the segment of blue trail that appeared to run along the tailwaters, but we found no trail or signage, just a 6 foot chain link fence, running along the stream. We doubled back to the parking area.
There we found a marked trailhead where the trail immediately heads uphill, away from the water. The speculator in me surmises that we were walking up an old farm lane.
Soon I’m hooked when we find ourselves among some outstanding, large trees in a mature wood.
Here we saw many woodpecker cavities but, alas, no woodpeckers.
But were rewarded when closer inspection of the above photo revealed some repurposing of this old cavity by a Fox Squirrel.
The old farm lane vibe continued as we ascended the hill at a slow, steady climb. One could envision years of farmers riding initially wagons, and later trucks, up this lane, with erosion leading to its recession from the surrounding terrain. Christmas fern grew on the slopes that lined the path.
The trail eventually left the old lane, which was crossed by numerous downed trees. It appeared to lead to an old pasture that was now overgrown with cedar trees.
We were now at the crest of the hill and could appreciate the extent of our climb from the valley. All in all it was not a punishing climb and we were surprised with the height that we had reached in a short time.
Soon the trail left the wood and we found ourselves in a cedar thicket.
I was trying to assess this habitat. Were we in an area of succession reforestation following earthmoving work for the dam, or were we in a true cedar glade, a unique and natural ecosystem characterized by plants, like Redcedar trees, that can thrive in the thin, nutritionally poor soils of these areas? After studying the associated meadow plants I favored that we were indeed in a cedar glade as there were a broad collection of species and they were woven together densely, something not usually seen on a former construction site.
In the meadow we noted several species that we have seen in the short grass prairies of nearby Adams County, including Liatris (Blazing Star).
We also noted Illinois Bundleflower, with its “bundled” seed pod legumes.
But the star of the meadow stage was Virginia Mountain Mint, which occurred in broad swathes. We came around a large Redcedar tree and audibly gasped when the grassland was filled with the soft gray of the dried seedheads, as noted below and in the title photo. We have seen Mountain Mint numerous times before when flowering, but never has it stolen the show as it did on this day.
As we strolled along the crest, I pointed out to Caroline that the river we were missing was just below us in the valley,
so when we came across an intersection with a well worn trail we opted to take that down toward the “Tailwaters” that we were hoping to see. I have marked that path in purple on the earlier map. We crossed the road that had taken us to the parking lot, headed down a slight grade on what we thought was the Perimeter Trail, and caught our first view of the river.
Approaching the river we finally had the views that we had anticipated on our drive up.
It took us a couple minutes to realize two things. First, that the Perimeter Trail appeared to cross the river at this point, heading up a gravel bank on the other side – perhaps something that I would be willing to do in the summer, but not on a cold December 31st. Second, we realized that the school bus turn around that we had visited on the way in was just above the other bank. I marked that with an orange star on the earlier map.
The peacefulness of this setting is best appreciated with a video.
Odds and Ends – For us, winter is often the season to observe fungi and mosses, and this hike was no different. For some species, the absent understory and steady winds of winter allow their spores to travel further, a reproductive advantage.
Bonnet and Golden Oyster Mushrooms
Turkey Tail, Honey Fungus, Velvet Shank, and Black Gel fungi are saprophytic fungi, acquiring nutrition from decaying materials, most oftenly wood.
This lone puff ball was about the size of a baseball, relatively small by puff ball standards, and it had clearly been gnawed on. When I lightly touched it with my walking stick it sent up a cloud of spores that were caught on the wind.
We enjoyed the contrast of this moss enveloping the dark wood of this log,
as well as the sleet settled in upon this moss covered log.
Many of the mosses that we studied were also actively forming spores, with the spore containing structures, the sporangia, giving the moss a red hue.
Lichens are a symbiosis, a partnership, between a fungus and an algae and were noted on the bark of some of the Redcedar trees. The fungus provides structure and water while the algae provides sugars through photosynthesis. The pairing allows both to survive where neither would be able to alone.
If you look closely at the photo below you can see some black filaments arising from the lichen. These are spore producing structures arising off the fungal part of the lichen. We have never seen these before and I had to do some research to confirm that they indeed represent reproduction in the form of spore formation. The process is not very efficient as the spores contain only fungal tissue and require luck to land near an algae with which it can partner to form another lichen. Lichens much more commonly reproduce by forming small structures composed of both the fungal and algal components, that break off and are transported by wind, water, or wildlife to another location where they can grow.
We often see clustered debris where squirrels feed, but rarely to this extent, when we noted a couple inches of fragmented walnut shells balanced on a log. These “feeding stumps” are selected due to an abundance of food nearby, and good visibility that lessens the risk of predation.
Lastly, the blue of Redcedar berries is a color not often seen in nature, especially in winter. Redcedars are dioecious, having both male and female trees. Therefore only about half the trees will bear fruit and there can be quite a bit of variation in the size and color of the berries.
In summary, while the setting of the hike was not what we envisioned, it was still a beautiful way to end 2025. The variety of habitats that we found ourselves in, and the small observations that we noted were exciting. The watershed of the Little Miami River is worthy of the acclaim that it receives and I will continue to look for new venues through which we can experience it.
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Photo credits to Caroline Burns Grizzle.
Overview:
Location – The park headquarters’ address is 3294 Elklick Rd, Bethel, OH 45106, about 28 miles from downtown Cincinnati. If you have a specific trail in mind it would be best to navigate directly to its trailhead if possible, as due to the fingers of the lake and existing infrastructure, getting from one point in the park to another can be time consuming.
Parking – large asphalt lot for 30 cars at the Tailwaters Picnic Area.
Trail Conditions – generally bare dirt.
Print Map Link – https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/ohiodnr.gov/documents/parks/parkmaps/eastforktrailmap.pdf. I would recommend that you download the free OuterSpatial app to access the trail map. That will allow you to have a detailed map on your phone and your progress is noted by GPS. The app is particularly useful in parks and preserves where there is no cell signal, provided that you download the map before getting to the hike. I have provided a link to their website below.
Facilities – seasonal at the trailhead.
Benches – none.
Picnic Tables – at the trailhead.
Kids – Due to the extended climb, I would suggest 6 and over.
Dogs – welcomed on a leash.
Suggested Paired Hikes – there are many other trails in the park.
Craft Beer – Mount Carmel Brewery is 14 miles away, heading back toward Cincinnati.
Links:
https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/east-fork-state-park