Hiking in Mohican State Park

On Sunday, David and I finished up his vacation week (spent working at home) with a trip to Richland County, Ohio and Mohican State Park. The Clear Fork of the Mohican River joins up with the Black Fork to form the Mohican River which is dammed to form Mohican Lake. Below the spillway, the river cuts through a 300-foot-deep gorge which was formed 12,000 years ago by the melting glacial waters of the Ice Age, creating magnificent sandstone outcroppings and steep cliffs. The Clearfork Gorge has been designated a Registered National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service partly because of its towering hemlock trees and a stand of virgin white pines. The park was once the hunting grounds of the Delaware Indians.

There are 13 miles of hiking trails in the park and an additional 32 miles in the adjacent Mohican-Memorial State Forest. There are also 8.5 miles of mountain bike trails which can be used by hikers. Work continues to expand this to 24.5 miles. There are a number of bridle trails which was evident by the scores of horse trailers we saw parked in the designated areas.

We only managed to hike about 3.5 miles on this trip, but parts of it were very rigorous and, if it had rained recently, would have been nearly impassable. Luckily, it was a beautiful day, perfect for hiking.

We started our hike with food. We had brunch at the Mohican Lodge.

 

Where the dam forms the lake. We parked here to start our hike.

 

The down-river side of the dam.

 

An uprooted hemlock tree. Now, if I had been a smart photographer, I would have had David stand beside it to show how huge it was, but I'm not that smart. Yet. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that the root system was at least fifteen feet across and the tree itself was probably 75 feet tall. I'm just guessing here, so don't quote me.

 

Big Lyons Falls which only had a trickle of water as it was fairly dry in the area. There is also a Little Lyons Falls, but I couldn't get a good picture because of the dense vegetation.

 

A sandstone rock carved by the waters coming from the waterfall and also some human carvings as well.

 

The Clear Fork draws a lot of fly fishermen. This young man wasn't having much luck. Fly fishing is a sport that David intends to explore when he retires.

 

The covered bridge where the trail loops back around. It seems to attract a lot of Harley riders.

 

After finishing the loop trail, this is what we faced to get back to the parking lot at the top of the dam. Yikes!

 

This is the view from the top where I was resting, and by that I mean trying not to die from a heart attack. The little speck you see on the right is a nine-year-old girl running down the hill in flip-flops!! And, yes, it is just as steep as it looks!

 

I hope you enjoyed this part of our day. Tomorrow I will take you on a little tour of an historic farm in the same area.