Tag: nature

Big South Fork Nat’l Rec Area

On By JC ThrashIn Bikes & Hikes, Dog Companion, Travel

As a kid, I’d go camping most years at Big South Fork, a national recreational area in Tennessee. Within the park, accessible only by foot (or horse), is Charit Creek Lodge. They provide the room, bed (and bedding!), breakfast and dinner. The meals are served family-style, offering the chance to meet people from all over the country. At our table, there were several Tennesseans, but also folks from South Carolina, New York, and Michigan.

The main lodge with the dining hall has two private cabin rooms on either side, with a shared back porch. I will admit that I initially balked at the price of one night stay for two humans and one dog, but when I realized that the food is, like, absolutely delicious, and far exceeded my expectations (I was picturing basic “camp food”), the cost seemed to be much more reasonable. And if you’re staying multiple nights, you also get a sack lunch! Our dinner consisted of meatloaf, a cheesy pasta dish with baked beans, vegetable casserole, and a fresh salad with nuts and goat cheese. Our breakfast was a delicious crustless quiche, sausage, and nut muffins.

Upon arriving, the first trail we tried was the Slave Falls Trail, but, just as Ohio is experiencing with this long drought, the waterfall was, well, nonexistent, and the creek a mere trickle. The woodsy stroll was lovely though, although we were a bit alarmed early-on in the hike at our first bear sighting! We’d slow down and make noise at every sharp turn to not catch a bear by surprise.

From there, we drove from the Slave Falls trailhead to the Twin Arches trailhead to eat a picnic lunch. We then hoisted on our packs, hoping to not fall off an arch with the weight of our overnight stay on our back.

The arches were incredible! Of course, the pictures don’t do it justice, but it was wild that, growing up in Tennessee, I never hiked that trail to see them. 

The rest of the trail was steep down into the valley where the Lodge sits, but a nice, enjoyable and woodsy path. Most tourists hike the small, 1-mi arches loop (the larger loop is over four miles), and so we only passed two other people as we hiked about 2 mi of the full loop to arrive at the Lodge.

After checking in, we dropped off our belongings in our massive room with one queen bed and four single bunks. They provide lanterns, as well as a cooler to put in any food or other yummy-smelling thing to the bear neighbors. We went to shower next – it is a shared facility for all Lodge guests, but the individual stalls were large, spacious, the room was warm, and the water was hot – definitely the best “camp” shower experience I have had. Note: towels not provided!

I’ve already shared what they served for dinner (while drooling just thinking about it). They also offer beer and wine for purchase, so my wife and I tied up the dog with a bone and sat in large rocking chairs with our beers, enjoying the gorgeous Tennessee fall weather.

In the morning, full up on quiche and sack lunch stored in our cabin cooler, we hiked up the Charit Overlook Trail. It’s a very wide horse trail, and though steep, it wasn’t rocky. All three of us could walk side by side. It was a hike I wish we had taken more time with, because the views from the top were lovely, but we hastened back down the mountain to check out by 11. 

We packed up and gathered our belongings from the cabin and returned to the rocking chairs to eat our sack lunch.

On our way out, we did the western part of the Twin Arches Loop, about 2.5mi. It climbed out of the valley much more gradually than the eastern part of the loop, and once we were up on the ridge, the views, rock formations, and parts of the arches all were incredible to enjoy.

To make the most of our second day in the park, we booked a hotel in Richmond, KY, to avoid driving the 4.5 hours home in one go. We drove the two hours to our hotel, picked up a pizza. We were way too pooped to enjoy the stop and went right to the hotel, but we’ve been to Richmond before; it’s a cool college with great BBQ and beer. Dogs were allowed at Dreaming Creek Brewery, and they typically have a food truck on site as well. Smitty’s BBQ was fast-food meets cafeteria-style restaurant barbecue (reminds me of Buddys BBQ back home in Knoxville); we got tons of food for so cheap, and all of the everything was tasty.

Pickerington Ponds & Walnut Woods

On By JC ThrashIn Bikes & Hikes, Columbus, OH, Dog Companion

Pickerington Ponds

After two days of hunkering down from the hurricane (who knew those could be such a big threat in landlocked Ohio!), the dog and I were going stir-crazy. The winds had died down but the rain continued steadily; despite the weather, I hit the road and headed to Pickerington Ponds metro park. 

My dog, who usually has no problem with rain or being wet, kept giving me this look as if to say, “really? a two-mile hike in this?”

I started on the Blacklick Trail – the 20-mile paved bike path – to reach the trailhead of the Burning Lake loop, the only dog-friendly hike at Pickerington Ponds. Similar to other dog-friendly paths at the Columbus metro parks, it’s a big loop through grassy meadows, with a very small woodsy stretch at the southern part of the loop.

On the way back, I noticed a trail connector to the Arrowhead Trail, a slightly shorter walk back to the parking lot and way to bypass the paved portion of the bike path. Ignoring the “no pets” sign (honestly, it was pouring, and I was the only one desperate enough to be walking in those conditions!). We enjoyed the Arrowhead much more; a wide path through the woods, it shielded us from the worst of the rainfall and had a much more quiet, peaceful vibe (and better sniffs for the dog).

Overall, not a great option for dog-parents, what with only one trail to use (assuming you want to follow the rules, don’t take my example). Additionally, as it was pouring, I did not take any pictures!

Okay, so… I also confess to breaking the rules at Three Creeks Metro Park. Our favorite spot for biking, we’ve also brought the dog for a walk along the paved trail. I was surprised to see that, even after the hurricane, the pond is still dried up from our summer (and now autumn) drought.

When I reached the Confluence Trail, a narrow path through the woods and along the creek, marked clearly with a “no pets” sign, I decided to give it a whirl. We had never explored this path as we always have either our bikes or the dog. I was hesitant to break the rules, but I didn’t pass a single person for the mile hike, and really enjoyed being in the woods. Note: this area was heavily infested with ticks.

Walnut Woods

Now to one of my favorites: Walnut Woods Metro Park. Every single trail is dog-friendly, and most trails are paved, as well, for those preferring a more accessible stroll. The best is the “Tall Pines” area of the park – specifically, the Sweetgum Trail. It’s a 2.6mi figure-8 loop trail, with an additional unpaved cut-through to one of the largest trees I’ve ever seen in Ohio. This half-mile option is lovely: typically quieter and less trafficked, you certainly feel more in the woods. And the smell of that pine? It makes me think of the smell of home every time.

We love the Sweetgum Trail so much, we haven’t even explored some of the other trails at the park, but we’ll report back once we have Tonks’ stamp of approval.