Westmark Woods is a Cardinal Land Conservancy property that recently opened to the public, joining the four other public preserves from their portfolio of 18 properties. The mission statement for Cardinal is “to preserve natural habitats, waterways, agricultural lands, and open spaces in Southwest Ohio by working with individuals, families, and communities”. I would argue that they need to have a sub-mission statement that reflects the opening of some of their preserves to the public – perhaps, “Bringing valued greenspace to people and communities”. This newest public preserve is in the older Cincinnati suburb of Springfield Township, and is surrounded by residential neighborhoods.

I was looking for a quick breath of fresh air and this newly opened 25 acre preserve seemed inviting. It was relatively close and I could be home in time to catch the second half of the Bengals game. Our daughter Ellen volunteered to stand in for the photographer who had torn a knee meniscus.

I didn’t know what to expect but the outstanding trailhead signage told us that we were entering a wet habitat, so we donned the appropriate footwear.

The map showed a lollipop trail – an entry path that leads to a loop trail, which is dark blue on the map below. On our return we would take the yellow diversion path.

The property is noted to be former farm pasture that was last grazed in the 1940’s. Since then trees have encroached on the landscape and a young forest has developed. There are a few older specimens, thought to be up to 200 years old, that are referred to as “wolf trees”. These trees were in the pasture in the farm days, had no competition for sunlight, and therefore have branches arising relatively close to the ground. At this time Shingle Oaks and Sugar Maples are becoming the predominant species of the wood, as well as a few hickories. On first glance there appears to be nothing really special about this woods – until you ponder it.

This was the fifth public preserve of Cardinal that we have been to, and as we have experienced at their other preserves, things were well done. Cardinal has owned this property for five years, and has clearly spent the time since its acquisition building the trails, placing infrastructure, and removing invasive species. As mentioned, there was excellent signage at the trailhead, but also well placed boardwalks to help you over the wet stretches. It appeared that these hillsides are laden with springs.

Heading down a mild slope from the parking area we noted a few of the common fall woodland flowers:

Ghost Aster and Yellow Wood Sorrel

Snakeroot and Great Lobelia

Then the ever observant Ellen noted a collection of Jack-in-the-pulpit seedheads hidden within the trailside brush, well after I had passed them. Given the relative rarity of this plant, their presence gives testament to the preserve. Despite as much time as we spend in woods, we can go a year or two without seeing the healthy collection of Jack-in-the Pulpit that we noted here.

The trail continued to wind through the somewhat open woodland – no broad vistas, no outstanding geology, just a trail through an inviting greenspace.

Shortly after we crossed this bridge we found ourselves at the base of the stairs that was the start of the loop section of trail. Here the landscape changed as we found ourselves walking beneath a series of large Osage Orange trees.

Their presence was not a surprise as mature Osage Oranges are frequently found on old farmlands. But these were larger than those we usually see and had outstanding architecture. Ellen noted their relative “spookiness”, which she deemed appropriate for the approaching Halloween season. They reminded me more of the apple trees in the Wizard of Oz movie, with gangly branches arching toward the ground.

After completing the loop, we headed back.

Along the way we had another notable plant finding – Sensitive Fern. While not classified as a succulent, its tissues are absolutely filled with water, and it requires a moist habitat to survive. And that is the origin of its name, Sensitive Fern, for the water content of its tissues makes it extremely sensitive to cold temperature. I once read that if the weatherman merely mentions frost that this plant will die for the season.

Odds and Ends:

Texture of the Day – early in the hike Ellen and I were intrigued by the delightful presence of swaths of Tree Moss, as noted in the title photo and below. Compared to most of the mosses that we see on our Ohio River Valley hikes, this species has a vertical growth component to it, reaching up to four inches. Its branching pattern, as noted in the title photo, does resemble an evergreen tree.

Fall is considered the “season of plenty”, when many plants feature their produce.

Virginia Creeper and Wild Grape

Shellbark Hickory nut and Buckeyes

Shingle Oak acorn, perhaps the smallest acorn of the Red Oak family, and Pawpaw seed, after it passed through the gastrointestinal tract of whatever mammal ate the fruit.

Over the years Footpaths has stressed how to identify Poison Ivy. Today we will check for comprehension. On this trail we found Poison Ivy and one of its look-a-likes, side by side, with both plants 18 inches tall. One is a young Boxelder and the other Poison Ivy. Can you tell the difference? How? Both have compound leaves comprised of three leaflets (“leaves of three let it be”).

The answer lies in how the leaves arise off the stem. In Boxelder they arise opposite (yellow circle) while in Poison Ivy they arise alternate (pink circle). So Boxelder is on the left, and Poison Ivy is on the right. As the Boxelder matures its compound leaves will have five leaflets.

One final comment on the name Boxelder. There is controversy about whether it should be one word or two. The answer is it should be either one word, Boxelder, or hypenated, Box-elder, since it is not a true member of the Elder family. It was misclassified in the past and is actually a member of the maple family, and its fruit is a winged samara, like all those in the maple family. We have all seen maple seeds spinning as they they fly.

I was impressed when I found these holes in the bark of one of the Osage Orange trees. These are the telltale work of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. They drill holes into the bark of trees in a linear pattern, either horizontal or vertical. Later the tree oozes sap which the birds then feed on, but they will also relish the occasional insect that is trapped in the sap. I was impressed by the work involved here, because Osage Orange wood is one of the hardest in North America.

As we walked the trails we noted numerous young trees that had been planted, with protection from deer in place. Most of these appeared to be Red Oaks and were now 8 to 12 foot in height.

On our return route, on the short yellow section of trail noted on the map, I rounded a corner, and noted another young tree about thirty feet in front of us, taller and without the deer protection. My first impression was a Chestnut, quite a surprise in a present-day, Eastern U.S. woodland.

As we got closer my identification was confirmed as we noted leaves with exaggerated teeth and nuts covered in coarse hairs – two unmistakable features. I suspect that this was one of the hybrids developed to replace the American Chestnut that had been wiped out by the Chestnut Blight in the first half of the twentieth century. I have seen a few of these in parks and arboretums but never in the wild. Undoubtedly this was part of a Cardinal forest improvement project prior to opening the preserve. Its approximate location is at the red star on the earlier map.

Prior to the Chestnut Blight, American Chestnut trees made up twenty-five percent of the trees in the deciduous forests of eastern North American and were valuable wildlife and timber trees. Heights of 100 feet and trunk diameters of 5 feet were common. How I would love to travel back in time to walk through a pre-blight forest. The wood was rot resistant and widely used for building and fencing. The blight was brought to North American on nursery stock of Asian Chestnuts and the disease was first identified at the Bronx Zoo in 1904. Over the ensuing four decades it spread across the eastern half of the continent killing every Chestnut in its native range, an estimated total of 4 billion trees. Very rarely in the wild we will see a somewhat small Chestnut that is arising off the remnant roots of a former tree, but they never live long enough to reach the grand size of their ancestors, still succumbing to the blight fungus. Luckily some American Chestnuts had been planted in Michigan and the Pacific Northwest, outside the trees native range, and were not killed by the blight. These were the source for the DNA for the hybridization project. The new hybrids, a multigenerational cross between American Chestnut and Chinese Chestnuts, are blight resistant. The current generation of hybrids are 94% American Chestnut and 6% Chinese Chestnut based on DNA. This ratio allows the hybrid trees to demonstrate the grandeur of the American Chestnut with the bight resistance of the Chinese Chestnut.

As we hiked Westmark Woods, the forest improvement efforts of Cardinal Land Conservancy brought to mind the famous quote, “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit”. So while Westmark Woods is a fun jaunt in 2026, Cardinal is really managing this property for posterity – for the future generations of Cincinnatians.

In summary, our quick jaunt at Westmark Woods was a fun little outing. While we noted a few surprising plant species given its suburban location, what impressed me the most about the property was the commitment and effort that Cardinal Land Conservancy has put in to make this small nature preserve visitor friendly as well as more ecologically rich. As time passes their plantings will make this island of greenspace more attractive to both people and wildlife. I also think that a winter hike here could be interesting, allowing the visitor to appreciate the unique and tortured architecture of the aged Osage Orange trees that are in abundance.

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Photo credits to Ellen Burns

Overview:

Location – 872 Compton Road, Springfield Township, OH, 13 miles from downtown Cincinnati.

Parking – paved lot for 10 cars.

Trail Conditions – bare dirt. This trail can be somewhat wet.

Print Map Link – none. Take a photo at the trailhead.

Benches – none noted.

Picnic Tables – one at trailhead/parking area.

Kids –kids 4 and over should do well.

Dogs – allowed on a leash.

Suggested Paired Hikes – no specific recommendation but Hamilton County’s Winton Woods Park is nearby.

Links:

https://www.cardinallandconservancy.org/