Today I spent my Memorial Day doing a little hiking out at the Cincinnati Nature Center in Milford. Also known as Rowe Woods, this place has some great trails! There is a total of 16 miles of trails, ranging from easy to a little more difficult-none of them are insanely challenging though! I ended up doing about 6 miles of the trails and it was awesome because they wind through fields, forest and, at times, streams as well.
The trails were very well maintained, and all of the paths were clearly marked which was great because it made it super easy to navigate. The trail surfaces ranged from gravel to dirt to mud...at least today that was the case. Made me wish I had decided to wear better trail shoes than my Chaco's, but was still really impressed. There were also a few times that I had to walk through streams, but it was actually kind of nice because I could wash all the mud off from the wet trails!
When I was walking the Redwing Trail, I was super surprised because I had gotten used to the shady forest and all the streams running through when all of a sudden I came to the top of a hill and it opened up into a beautiful meadow area!
I only did a small portion of the trails, but would definitely go back and check out the rest! It was an $8 admission into the park for adults, but for how much time you can spend there hiking, I thought it was worth it. Also, I think it's clear where the money is going to because all the trails and facilities are very well maintained! Another thing I really loved about the Nature Center was while I was on the trails, I hardly saw anyone-it was relaxing to get out and spend some time in nature. When I did occasionally run into someone, everyone was super friendly. They also allow dogs on all the trails, but they must be on their leash-so I saw a lot of pups while I was out.
Check out the Cincinnati Nature Center website for a map of the trails! When I was there I made up my own route and went from the Edge Trail to the Whitetail Trail to the Redwing Trail to the Geology Trail and then rounded back to the Edge Trail. It was awesome and I definitely recommend heading up there if you are looking for somewhere pretty close to Cincinnati to hike and spend time outdoors. Get outside this week!! It supposed to be absolutely beautiful weather! Where do you plan on heading to enjoy the summer weather?