By the end of April, the Ohio River Valley was 4 inches behind pace for precipitation for 2026. That all changed during the second week of May. We had 3 weeks of near daily, significant rain that limited our hiking opportunities and necessitated a search for a paved trail that Footpaths had not yet visited. I honed in on the Williamsburg to Batavia Hike-Bike Trail of the Clermont County, Ohio park system, whose parks we have enjoyed in the past.
It looked straight forward when glancing at the map, with five possible public parking locations to enter the trail.
We started at the P2 location, but realized it was a significant distance on foot from the trailhead. We drove up to the trailhead and noted a snarky small dog who felt that we were not worthy of being in his neighborhood – even in a vehicle – the option of dealing with him on foot was not inviting. The P1 option was even further away and would require the same canine confrontation. We opted to head to the P4 location which was within East Fork Lake State Park, the site of several previous, successful Footpaths outings. But the P4 location is at the “Campground Parking Lot” that was at least a half mile hike from the trailhead, necessitating a walk along a two lane roadway . As we searched for a closer option, a park staff member suggested that we park in the small parking area near the shower building in the E Section of the large, fragmented campground. Even with that we had to walk along the road to get to the trailhead.
Once at the trailhead we had this inviting view onto the hike-bike path, which was heading downhill at a mild grade.
Right away we began noting some nice wildflowers. The first to greet us was Lance-leaf Coreopsis. A native wildflower, it is a mainstay of perennial and pollinator gardens. Once the flowers become seed heads, they are a favorite food of Goldfinches.
Another familiar flower was Yarrow, which we have seen in North America, as well as in Scotland. It is classified as circumboreal, meaning it is found throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe, Asia, and North America – a very wide, native distribution.
Perhaps the most common wildflower was Foxglove Beardtongue. Here it was white, but can be found in shades of light pink. It is the flower being visited by the Bumble Bee in the title photo.
Of course, the photographer was happy to see her favorite flower immigrant, the Oxeye Daisy. It is native to Europe and Western Asia and was brought to the States in the 1800s for ornamental purposes.
As we continued to descend the mild grade we were surprised to see this – a single rose-like blossom.
A little further down the path however the show became much more dramatic. I would have to assume that this rose grouping is relic from the farms that were acquired before East Fork Lake State Park opened in 1978. With its compound flower structure it does not appear to be the invasive Multiflora Rose.
After heading downhill for a mile we opted to turn around and head back. Part of the fun of out-and-back trails is observing things on your way back that you missed on the initial pass. Such was the case when we noted the developing fruit of the Ohio Buckeye. Here it resembled the fruit of Sweetgum, with a prominence of spines. As the nut enlarges and matures, the spines become much less noticeable. It caused me to ponder why you only see Buckeye fruit in groupings of two or three, when the flower stalk usually has many more flowers. Online research told me that the reason is that a single flower stalk (panicle) will have both male and female flowers, but only about10 percent are female and can produce a fruit when pollinated. The male and female flowers grossly look the same, but the female flowers, which have an ovary containing pistil, are at the base of the flower stalk. So a flower stalk with ten to thirty flowers will produce 1-3 nuts. Buckeyes are pollinated by Hummingbirds, Bumblebees, and other long tongued insects.
On our return leg, heading back uphill, we noted several flowers that we somehow missed on our way downgrade.
Carolina Petunia – note that the stem top has been eaten down by a deer.
Most species of violets had flowered much earlier in the spring, but this Cream Violet was at peak bloom. It has some atypical features when compared to other violets, including a flower stem that arises from the base of the leaf itself rather than from the base of the plant, and a height that can reach 18 inches, much taller than other violet species.
The lowest flower petals have pigmented nectar guides that direct pollinators to the flower’s nectar, improving pollination of the flowers. These purple stripes lead to the flowers other name, Striped Violet.
Meadow Hawkweed is another immigrant from Europe, having been brought over in the early 1800s as a garden ornamental and for its many medicinal herbal uses. It is commonly visited by pollinators.
Its very hairy leaves matted the ground.
Deptford Pink was another beautiful, non-native that was seen on our return trek. It is named for the town of Deptford, in England, which is now a neighborhood in South-East London. Ironically, while it is now common in the States, it is rare in England. It is most often classified as “naturalized” rather than invasive in the States.
In addition to the plants, we observed several interesting insects alongside the trail. This Clouded Sulfur Butterfly allowed for some closeup imaging.
We also enjoyed this Tiger Swallowtail that the photographer caught in mid flight. Note its coiled up proboscis with which it feeds. Structurally, it is a pair of hollow tubes. Butterflies have muscles in their heads to create suction to draw up water, salts, and nectar.
Our last insect of the day was this Leaf-legged Bug that resembles a piece of military machinery. Their name arises from the leaf-like projections that arise from the lower hind legs in older specimens, but were not present on this individual. They feed on various plant saps and can be garden pests.
Surprise of the Day – We were near the end of our hike when we came upon this hardneck garlic naturalized into the landscape. It was near the earlier mentioned roses and again may be a relic from the land’s previous days as a farm. The curlicue shape of the scapes were the identifying feature. In 45 years of hiking as an adult, I have never seen this before in the wild. The garlics native to the Eastern U.S. do not have the curlicue scape.
In summary, our outing to the Williamsburg to Batavia Hike-Bike Trail accomplished what we wanted during a very wet stretch of days in May – it got us out in nature and a good workout. We were rewarded with some commonplace as well as some unusual observations, and this tree nerd learned something about the pollination and fruit development of the Ohio Buckeye tree. Based on our experience one could reason that the trail is better suited for biking since the three parking areas we assessed were quite a distance from the trailheads, and the overlap of parts of the trail on two lane roadways makes for less than ideal hiking. Still, we will keep in mind a revisit to the trail during wet weather to assess the parking situation at sites P3 and P5 on the map. One final observation is that while the Hike-Bike Trail is officially a Clermont County Park, it appears to reside within East Fork Lake State Park for almost its entire distance.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – Williamsburg and Batavia, Ohio, about 30 miles from Downtown Cincinnati. For specific addresses of the five parking locations see the map link below.
Parking – the two lots in Williamsburg (P1, P2 on the map) were quite a distance from the trailhead and perhaps better suited for bikers. The P4 lot was at the entrance to the East Fork Lake State Park campground and was about one half mile from the trailhead, with a long walk along a two lane roadway. At the direction of a park staff member we parked at the shower building for the E section of the campground. We have not assessed the parking situation at P3 and P5.
Trail Conditions – paved.
Print Map Link – https://www.clermontparks.org/media/user/rentals/Williamsburg-batavia%20hike-bike%20trail.pdf
Benches – yes.
Picnic Tables – yes, one near the trailhead. Many others throughout East Fork Lake State Park.
Facilities – yes, at the campground.
Kids – kids of all ages would do well on this trail, but there was a significant grade to the section we walked.
Dogs – allowed on a leash.
Suggested Paired Hikes – none
Links:
https://www.clermontparks.org/williamsburg-to-batavia-hike-and-bike-trail/