Tall Timbers Trail at Big Walnut Preserve

andreaj  Thursday, September 9, 2010

Adventure Review

We chose this trail because it was close to our home. We wanted to check it out but didn’t have a whole lot of time. We went on September 6, 2010 at 10am. The weather was around 70 degrees and sunny and it took us about an hour to hike this one mile at a leisurely pace.

We got directions from the internet that were very clear and it took us down some roughly paved country roads and over an old red covered bridge over Big Walnut Creek. We even saw a few deer as we were driving. We found the small parking area on the left with a trail sign in log to start us out.

Our hike began near some fields and it didn’t feel much like a hike at first. Then the path grew narrow and suddenly we were in the woods. We crossed a well maintained little bridge shortly and continued along our hike. It was pretty and peaceful and very moderate as far as the terrain went. There were lots of signs and it was easy to navigate. At one point the trail becomes a loop. We took it right to look at a scenic ravine. The trail descended to a creek bed eventually. There was a flight of stairs and I was glad we were going down them and not up them. We would have had to go up if we had taken the loop left. At the bottom there was a large log covered in moss crossing the creek. We decided to try this for fun.(only after I let DJ be the Guinea pig) Apparently it wasn’t slick so I did it too. We could have crossed through the rocks but this was more fun.

Our hike continued with a cool breeze and pretty trees. Dj even saw a wild turkey up on the ridge though I missed it. We came to a sign on the trail that read “Spur to Creek” and decided to try it. We walked down the short path to the creek which was about 6 to 10 feet below. I looked to my left and saw a rope swing and dared Dj to try it:) He tried it while I laughed and pointed the camera in case of a funny falling shot. And then I did it too. It was fun and a little nerve racking and made us feel like kids again. It made me want to bring our kids back to try it.

Satisfied with our little excitement we headed back to the trail and hiked our way back up to the parking area. We decided this was a fun little hike and a great place to experience the great outdoors close to home.