Trail Difficulty: Easy
Trail Length: Variable (0.25 – 3 miles) depending on which trail you take
Pets: Dogs are welcome but must be leashed and under control at all times. No pets are allowed in the Historical Farm or Visitor’s Center unless they are guide dogs.
Vehicles: Bicycles, horses, and ATVs are not permitted on the main trails. Horses are permitted on specified horse trails.
Hi everyone! After a somewhat traumatic move to Dayton, OH (I am still living in temporary housing and my car was totaled by a guy that OD’d behind the wheel), I am back. Luckily, my car was parked and no one was in it when the accident happened. Welcome to Dayton!
The good news is that I am buying a house for the first time and we close on October 5th. More good news is that I fell in love with a Subaru Forester and may like it better than my last car. More bad news is that Zebra’s Girl had to stay behind in NC to finish her degree. At least she doesn’t have to be here through all of this excitement. Still, I miss my adventure buddy.
For my first post back, I decided to talk about Carriage Hill Park which is just north of Dayton. This isn’t the first park I have visited since arriving, but the most recent and very memorable.
Carriage Hill Park is part of Five Rivers MetroParks, a regional public park system that serves the Dayton metropolitan area. The five rivers are the Great Miami River, Mad River, Stillwater River, Wolf Creek, and Twin Creek. The parks comprise over 15,400 acres and 25 facilities.
The MetroParks systems is probably the best group of regional parks I have ever encountered. Each park is a little different and every single one that I visit manages to impress. The group was established in 1963 and they have been consistently working to protect key natural areas in Dayton for over 50 years. If you visit Dayton, you need to visit at least one of these parks while you are here.
Ok, enough about the MetroParks and on to the review. For those craving more, I will do my best to review every park before I leave Dayton and possibly produce an article on the park system.
Location
The park is north of I-70 and about a 15-20 minute drive from Dayton depending on where you live. For people traveling east to west on I-70, it is only one minute off of the interstate. Pretty conveniently located with minimal traffic in the area.
History of the park
Originally farmlands and woodlots that was later transitioned to the Five Rivers MetroParks system, the park has had 50 years since it was used for farming to allow for natural succession of the landscape into forests, thickets, wetlands, and meadows. The park even kept the historical farm and uses this for education today and even has period farm animals.
Activities at the park
Conservation and Citizen Science
Facility rentals
Fishing
Geocaching
Heritage and history
Hiking trails
Horseback riding (at the Horseback Riding Center)
Paddling/Dock
Picnic tables
First Impressions
The drive into the park was really nice. It really felt like an old farm that nature has started to reclaim. Parking was a little confusing and I recommend studying a map before you arrive. A quick pull-off and a look at my Geocaching app, which has trails marked on it, got me to my desired parking area.
There were plenty of parking spots available, even on a Saturday when I expected the park to be busy (spoiler, it wasn’t). At my parking location, there were a couple of shelters and lots of picnic tables available.
My adventure
A short walk brought me to the trail map and trail junction. At this parking location, I had access to four different trails (red, orange, yellow, and green). I opted for the red trail for two reasons. One, it would take me toward my first geocache. Two, and more importantly, it would take me across the boardwalk and around the lake. Yup, I said boardwalk.
To this day, despite all my adventures, whenever I hear the word boardwalk, I immediately think of the beach. It’s funny how something can stick in your mind despite it only having partial relevance to the word. Boardwalk by definition is an area made of boards that you walk on. I guess I just have fond memories of walking the boardwalk at Ocean City, MD with my mom growing up.
Anyway, this is not a beach boardwalk. Actually on second thought, maybe it is, because you are on a raised walkway at the edge of a lake. On third thought, there wasn’t really a typical beach, so I’m going to retract my second thought (I guess that means just the original thought then. Math is hard). Regardless of all that, the boardwalk was very, very nice. If you have read my other posts, you know how much I like bridges. Well, I like boardwalks as much as bridges, and probably more. Yes, more. I want to have a boardwalk someday on my property (That comment is for Zebra’s Girl).
The boardwalk covers the west side of the lake and extends for about 1000 feet. On the lake, you can see people fishing and a few people canoeing. I was even lucky enough to catch a heron just sitting in the water. I didn’t bring my optics (I know, I know, always bring your optics), but I think it was a blue heron.
Following the boardwalk, I veered right along the lake’s edge. This was a wonderful dirt path through the woods that would occasionally skirt the lake. About half way down the lake, there is a little windmill that provided a wonderful sign explaining how it helps to aerate the lake. Great little discovery and I love that they took the time to place a sign to educate hikers. Just one of those little touches I’ve come to expect from Five Rivers MetroParks.
Just past the lake, I came upon a field of natural sunflowers. Natural sunflowers are smaller than the American Giant that most people plant in their yard, but such a beautiful yellow. The entire field was labeled as all native plants to Ohio in a reclamation effort. Really quite stunning with so many butterflies flittering to and fro. There was some Goldenrod mixed in as well.
I took a turn onto the yellow path to find my first geocache of the day, listed below. After a quick find, I kept going on the path and stumbled upon the North Wood Pond. I say stumbled, but really if I had paid closer attention to the map, I would have realized it was there.
North Wood Pond was kind of a magical little place. It was quiet, shaded, and so amazingly peaceful. No one was around and I took a few minutes to just absorb the natural energy in the air. This will definitely be a place I take Zebra’s Girl for a picnic when she gets to Dayton.
I walked along the west side of the pond and grabbed my second geocache. The yellow trail then joined up with the orange trail which lead me to a tall grass prairie.
This was also a wonderful site to see. The grasses were easily 7 feet tall and blowing in the wind. The path was large enough to accommodate their movement, but small enough that you were almost walking under their grassy tops. For anyone who has never watched a field of grass blowing in the wind, it is even better than in the movies.
I continued on the combined trails and opted to not travel into the high grass with shorts for the third geocache. At a junction, I stuck with the orange trail toward a fourth geocache that turned up empty and it lead me back to where I parked. I would estimate my total travel at about 1 ½ miles.
Terrain and Trail Architecture
The terrain is mostly flat with some gradual inclines. Outside of the boardwalk, the trails are all well cleared dirt paths. No significant tripping hazards like exposed roots or loose rocks for the most part. The trails are also well maintained (typical for Five Rivers) and they were even out cutting a few of the trails on the day I was there.
As above, you will get to experience a variety of different features like a lake, pond, wetlands, grassy meadow, tall grasses, and forests. The park is so well designed, that I saw all of these elements in about a mile walk. Pretty impressive and a great opportunity for families to teach children about different ecosystems and landscapes.
The only significant water features on my trip were the lake and pond. There were a couple of bridges I crossed over areas that look like they may have small streams when it rains.
Bridges and Boardwalks
Yup, I added boardwalks to this section for the future.
There is one 1000ft boardwalk along the west side of the lake, and it was particularly nice. It takes you out into the lake just enough to see aquatic wildlife like herons, frogs, and turtles. I didn’t see any fish, but I’m sure they were in there. Dragonflies abound.
There were a couple of small wooden bridges without railings in a few areas that appear to allow for water flow during heavy rains. Nothing particularly special about these, but that’s ok because I got a boardwalk.
Flora
There were several wonderful flowers on my journey. Below are actual pictures I took on the trail. These are also my best identifications and please let me know if I got anything wrong.
Early Goldenrod (Solidago juncea)
Early Goldenrod is a perennial herb that grows 3-6 ft tall. It is found in the United States West of the Rocky Mountains and from Alabama up into Canada. Early goldenrod serves as an important food source for bees and butterflies and would make a beautiful, native addition to your garden. Blooms Jun-Aug.
Bitter Vine (Mikania micrantha)
This plant is also known as climbing hemp vine or American rope. It is an aggressively growing perennial creeper. A single stalk can produce between 20,000-40,000 seeds per year. It is an invasive species.
Field Thistle (Cirsium discolor)
Field thistle is a biennial herb that can grow to 3-6 ft tall. The blooms can be either pink or purple and bloom Jun-Sep. Similar to goldenrod, it ranges east of the Rocky Mountains from Alabama up to Canada. This attracts butterflies and finches, particularly goldfinches. Bird lovers are probably familiar with thistle in some seed mixes.
Blacksamson Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia)
Blacksamson is a perennial herb that can grow 1-3 ft tall. It produces white, pink, or purple flowers that bloom in May or June (hence the wilting). This is found along the middle of the U.S. and a few parts of Canada. Native bees are fond of the flowers.
Fauna
Birds
I left my optics at home, but I was able to identify a blue heron, mourning dove, robin, and black vulture. I also heard a blue jay and a red-shouldered hawk.
Amphibians and reptiles
I saw a couple of frogs I couldn’t identify and a turtle sunning himself on a log in the lake.
Geocaching
I attempted four geocaches in the park and found two. All of these caches were themed around dendrology (the study of trees) which was kind of cool.
3 – Dendrology (Five Rivers Metroparks) – GC580DP
Found this one with relative ease. Nothing particularly special. Just hidden among the trees.
4 – Dendrology (Five Rivers Metroparks) – GC580HV
This one was very close to North Wood Pond and was memorable for that.
2 – Dendrology (Five Rivers Metroparks) – GC5801T
This one I honestly didn’t attempt. It was in the tall grass field and there wasn’t a path to get to the tree. Since I was wearing shorts, I just didn’t feel like getting abrasions or possibly ticks. I’ll return when the weather changes and it gives me something to find when I come back.
1 – Dendrology (Five Rivers Metroparks) – GC57ZXD
This was my one frown for the day. I spent forever looking for it (ok, maybe only an hour), but no luck. I couldn’t even find the white oak that it was supposed to be near. Left a DNF and will try again in the future.
Conclusion
Carriage Hill, like all Five Rivers parks so far, did not disappoint. The different ecosystems combined with the boardwalk and the peaceful North Wood Pond really put this park at the top of my list.
Needless to say, I will be returning to this park in the future. I didn’t get a chance to check out the historical farm and would love to see what education programs they offer.
If you live in the Dayton area, or are even passing by on I-70 at some point, you really should take an hour and stroll the trails. General footwear (maybe not heels) will probably get you around and you might leave just a little more relaxed and at peace with the world.