2017-02-26

Another sunny and 45 degree day in February. I opened up 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Cincinnati. I found a trail in the Miami University Nature Preserve that looked worthy of a trip. Oxford, Ohio is only about twenty miles away so I was surprised that I have not heard of this before. The directions in the book were good, I found the trail head without trouble.

Yellow Trail

We had some rain of Friday, thunderstorms actually, so the trail was damp. I decided to hike the Yellow Trail from the head on Ohio 73. If you are in the dry season you can probably get by with walking shoes. Today I was glad I wore my hiking boots. I also brought my staff. Most of the trail is flat, but once you get north, you will find hills. Since I started hiking alone, I find a staff is one of the better tools in my kit.

There are some mature Sycamore along the trail. A few have begun to hollow out as you will notice hiking in the trail from the parking lot. I chose to head east on the Bachelor Preserve East Loop when I arrived at the fork. You have to skip across several cement piers to cross the creek. Then a gentle climb up to Bachelor Pond. No swimming signs all around. Probably best not to try.

At the Northeast side of the pond is trail to the Reinhart Preserve Loop. It was muddy but I decided to follow it up to Bonham Road. A brief hike along the road and you reach the trailhead to Bachelor Preserve North Loop. This connects to the Kramer Preserve Loop. I am looking forward to checking this out next month when the wildflowers start to bloom.

I followed the yellow blazes down through Bachelor Preserve Pine Loop to the original fork in the road. I really wanted to see the suspension bridge so I hiked back up the center trail for about a half mile. Crossed the bridge and back again. Retraced my steps back to the parking lot. Ended up with about a seven mile day.