Southern Ohio Hiker: Clear Creek Metro Park

On Sunday, January 17, I hiked at Clear Creek, one of the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks. There are many creeks named "Clear" and several parks named "Clear Creek" and several park systems with "Metro" and "Park" in their name, although some of them combine the two words into one. To add to the confusion, this particular Clear Creek Metro Park is located in Hocking County, at least 40 miles and a couple counties from Columbus and Franklin County. It is located west of US 33, east of Lancaster. Fortunately, the trails are well-marked and a lot less confusing than the name and location.

Take Clear Creek Rd (County Rd 116) off of US 33, and after a little less than a mile there wil be a sign advising you to slow down to 15 MPH. The road narrows because of a rock wall along the right and a large slump block leaning over the road on the left.

Leaning Lena. Picture from the Park's website.

Trucks do use this road and those traveling in the opposite direction will be in your lane. While this can be scary if you are not expecting it (sorry I ruined it for you if you like a good scare), it makes a great "Welcome to the park" statement. Another half mile or so gets you to the Creekside Meadows Picnic Area parking lot. I usually park here and either take the Cemetery Ridge Trail (2.5 miles) and return via the Creekside Meadows Trail (1 mile each way) or vice versa. Since I was only going to hike the Fern (2.1 miles) and Hemlock (1.5 miles) and then go on to nearby Cantwell Cliffs in Hocking State Park, I drove another half mile or so to the Fern Picnic Area and parked there. There are several other places to pull off the road should you want to try your luck fishing. Clear Creek is regularly stocked with fish and is quite popular right after the stocking. The banks are lined with fishermen. They are standing on each others shoulders. They have nets and catch the fish as they are being released. At least that is what I have been told. I have not been there and seen more than one or two people fishing.

Anyway, the Fern Trailhead is across the road from the parking lot. After a zigzag start the trail goes up a gentle slope on the left side of a hollow. The forest is a mix of hardwoods and hemlocks, most of the hemlocks are deeper in the hollow, but some of them have managed to climb the slope a little ways. After about a half mile you come to the loop portion of the trail. To the right the trail continues along the hollow 1/2 mile to the Hemlock Trail and another 1/4 mile up to the Cemetery Ridge Trail. To the left it is 3/4 mile to Cemetery Ridge and 1 mile to the Hemlock Trail. I took the long way.

When you take the trail to the left the slope increases and except for one short section you are walking uphill until you get to the upland meadow (the light green on the map). There are many reasons to stop and catch you breath: To the right you can look through the woods at the hollow you were previously walking along and to the left you can look out over the treetops of the Clear Creek Valley. It was snowing lightly when I was hiking making the view that much more enjoyable. Eventually you reach the ridgetop with the meadow on your left and the woods sloping away on the right. In the summer the meadow is alive with flowers and butterflies and birds. I do most of my hiking in the fall, winter and spring so I tend to pick up the pace along stretches like this.

As I mentioned earlier, it was snowing lightly, and by the time I got to the ridgetop the ground was fairly well covered with snow. I ignored the meadow to the left and looked at the woods sloping away to the right. After you pass the Cemetery Ridge junction the trail heads downhill (finally) into the woods to:

It was still snowing and the flakes of snow were getting larger. All the footprints of the hikers ahead of me continued down the Fern Trail to the parking lot. The Hemlock Trail was virgin ground. Well, at least it has been for the last 30 minutes. The Hemlock Trail walks around the top of the hollow that the Fern trail followed at the beginning of the hike. It then goes uphill and enters another deeper hollow. There are other smaller side hollows and some small ups and downs along the way. The trail passes through several groves of hemlocks that give the trail its name. The trail eventually goes to the bottom of the hollow and follows the stream back to Clear Creek Rd. I'll let the pictures narrate the rest of the hike.