Date: 02/08/2020 – Distance: 10.5 mi – Elapsed Time: 7 hr – Ascent: 1009 ft – Descent: 1079 ft – Difficulty: Medium
It was a beautiful winter day in Central Ohio. There was snow and the temperature wasn’t too cold, just below freezing. I ventured to do one of the last trails, which I haven’t hiked yet at Alum Creek State Park, the Maple Glen Bridle Trail. Unlike the other two bridle trails at Alum Creek, this one is a lollipop shaped, rather than a loop, so you have to return on the same trail. There are several places to start this hike (noted below as parking spots), however I opted to start at the US 36 parking area and hike south. There is also a section of the trail north of US 36 which goes to the horseman’s camp. If you hike west from the parking lot on the south side of US 36, and follow the road for a bit, you will come to a tunnel which crosses under the busy highway. However, I went south. This section of the trail was 10.5 miles without taking any of the shortcuts on the loop at the south end of the trail.
Like all of Alum Creek’s trails, this one is heavily wooded and has many inlets along the lake with some ravines and some brittle shale cliffs along the lake.
Waypoints:
- Doc’s Trail Map – Google Maps
- Parking North – Horseman’s Camp – N40° 17.386′ W82° 57.700′
- Parking Middle – US 36 Canoe and Kayak put in – N40° 16.161′ W82° 57.337′
- Parking South – Dunham Road – N40° 15.372′ W82° 58.191′
- Parking South – Big Run Road – N40° 16.004′ W82° 58.501′
Links: