January – that time of year when winter is its harshest and the landscape is most barren. But one thing that always looks outstanding in a winter landscape – mature trees of the White Oak Family. So as I pondered a hiking venue that could feature white oaks, I immediately considered some of the northernmost counties of Kentucky – literally our home stomping ground – where seven species of white oaks are native. Members of the White Oak Family have two consistent characteristics – their leaves lack bristles at their tips and their acorns mature in one season, on this years twigs. By contrast, members of the Red Oak Family have bristles on the tips of their leaves and their acorns take two seasons to ripen. But it is two other qualities that make white oaks particularly attractive in the winter. They have a beautiful gray bark that seems to glow softly in the low winter sunlight. They also typically have large branches that arise off a rather short trunk that results in interesting architectural forms.

I selected Kincaid Lake State Park, of Pendeleton County, as we had never hiked there and because I had seen some beautiful white oaks on a nearby golf course. I selected the Musclewood Trail as it was the longer of the two trails in the park, and because of an online description of the terrain – “gently sloping”.

The trail starts in a young, open wood that featured White Oaks and Redcedars. The first part of the path overlaps with the shorter Spicebush Trail.

A short distance in, the trail passes through an open shelter before it heads downhill on a series of stairs.

At the base of the hill was a flowing stream. As I stood there enjoying this view I heard both a Barred Owl and Great Horned Owl calling from the opposite hillside. Owls are some of the first birds to nest in the new year and I suspect they were trying to attract mates.

When I looked at the forest floor I could see that my hypothesis was correct, with regards to the presence of white oaks, as I could see several species amongst the leaves.

White Oak – it is a little confusing but White Oak is the name of a single species, but also of the larger family. To abate the confusion some refer to the species as American White Oak.

Chinkapin Oak – while the leaves have teeth, they have no bristles.

Bur Oak – its leaves are perhaps the largest in the White Oak Family.

I loved the openness of the wood which allowed me to appreciate the trees.

While the trees in this wood were not old and majestic, you could see some that were beginning to develop the characteristic branching pattern that I mentioned earlier.

Hiking along the creek, which was covered with a thin layer of ice, was peaceful, and the low winter sunlight set the Woodland Oats aglow.

Studying the forest floor in this area led to a couple of interesting finds. First was a massive hickory nut. Given its size I would say it was from a Shellbark Hickory, which also goes by the name “King Nut Hickory”, due to the size of its fruit. They are not as common as Shagbark Hickories whose nut is a little smaller.

The other floor finding was this on a piece of Sycamore bark – a preying mantis egg case. I suspect that the bark flake was still on the tree when the case was placed. These generally hold from 100 to 200 eggs.

Soon we got to a somewhat rustic bridge over the small stream.

We were a bit surprised when we crossed the bridge and could not find a continuation of the Ironwood Trail as was depicted on the map that I had downloaded.

We backtracked and noted a trail that continued on without crossing the bridge. Only after getting home and reviewing a photo of a map that was taken in the open shelter did we see where the Ironwood Trail did in fact remain on the other side of the creek.

As we stood there enjoying these views onto the stream,

I noted a bird that came in with the wave-like flight pattern typical of woodpeckers, and landed on a tree trunk just ahead of us on the trail. We were looking into the sun and it was on the shady side of the tree, but yes, it was the increasingly rare Red-headed Woodpecker.

We stood there in awe, having not seen one in the Ohio River Valley for years. We watched it go from tree to tree. To be honest I had forgotten how unique and beautiful they are.

In all, we spent 20 minutes watching it and the photographer took 143 photos. At one point it flew ahead of us on the trail and allowed us to pass beneath so we could see it from the sunny side.

Redheaded Woodpeckers are relatively big birds, measuring 7.5 to 9.5 inches in height and have a wingspan of 17 inches. While they have a similar flight pattern to other woodpeckers, they show a lot more bright white than most of the other species. My research showed that we were in an ideal habitat for them – creekside open woodlands. Their population has been negatively affected by invasive species like bush honeysuckle and euonymus which diminish the open woodland, and the European Starling which overtakes their nesting cavities.

As we continued upstream I noted this tall Sugar Maple. In their most mature form, the Sugar Maple’s bark develops elongated plaques that give them a shaggy appearance. These plaques play a critical role for the ecosystem, providing sites to overwinter for many species of insects and some species of bats.

We were on a hillside trail and at this time were somewhat away from the stream.

As we headed back down toward the stream we passed through a grove of Ironwood trees, for which the trail is named. The tree is small, rarely exceeding 5 inches in diameter in my experience, although my reference books say they can get up to a foot. The wood is dense and exceedingly strong, leading to the name “Ironwood”. Historically it was used for tool handles and for the pegs for post and beam construction.

The other name for this tree is Musclewood, due to the trunk’s similarity to a flexed muscle, as noted on these four different trunks. The common size of the trunk is similar to the size of a biceps muscle.

Soon the trail crossed the stream on a series of large, stable stones.

We then headed uphill in another mixed wood with Redcedars.

At the base of one of the Redcedars we noted some “whitewash” – a collection of bird feces. I suspect that this tree was a favored roosting spot for one of the smaller owl species – Screech or Saw-whet, as they both like to roost in Redcedars.

Once atop the hill the trail became a ridge walk.

White Pines are not native to our region but we frequently come upon plantings of them on our hikes. Here the trail passed through a grouping of tightly planted trees, all of which were about the same age, suggesting that this was a reforestation effort.

But surprisingly we also noted some white pine seedlings alongside the trail, which is quite unusual. Up to this sighting I would have confidently said that White Pine seeds do not germinate in the soil of Northern Kentucky. My tree mentor suggested that our soil was less acidic than the soil in the trees native range and that was the reason.

After passing through the White Pines we found ourselves in the most mature woods of the day, featuring White Oaks, Red Oaks, and American Beech. The man-made Kincaid Lake can be seen through the trees. This was the area that I heard the owls calling from earlier in the hike.

The heavy canopy provided an ideal environment for mosses on the forest floor.

A surprise sighting was some dormant fronds of Maidenhair Fern which is not often found in Northern Kentucky.

Continuing down the hillside we found ourselves on the opposite bank of the stream we hiked along earlier.

Soon we crossed back over on the rustic bridge and retraced our steps up to the parking lot.

In summary, our quick visit to Kincaid Lake State Park was successful beyond my dreams. I had included the sighting of a Red-headed Woodpecker on my list of hiking goals for 2026, and got to mark it off on January 5th. In addition, we found a ecologically healthy woodland that had some unexpected species. The promise of owl sightings and the likelihood of spring ephemeral wildflowers in the mature wood will bring us back. That is part of the thrill of hiking, you just never know what you might find when you step onto a trail.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.

Overview:

Location – 749 Kincaid Park Road, Falmouth, KY, about 35 miles south of downtown Cincinnati.

Parking – Paved lot for 30 cars.

Facilities – Seasonal at recreational area.

Trail Conditions – The trail starts in the Recreation Area, just behind the basketball courts. Moderate due to terrain. The trails are well maintained. There were a few missing signs but the trail was easily followed.

Print Map Link – I would take a photo of the map in the shelter that is about 100 yards down the trail.

Benches – two at the top of the climb after crossing the creek.

Kids – Kids 4 and over should do well here with minimal assistance.

Dogs –Welcomed while on a leash.

Paired Hikes – the Spicebush Trail is basically an inner loop of the Ironwood Trail.

Links:

https://parks.ky.gov/parks/find-a-park/kincaid-lake-state-park-7816