Falls at Sharon Woods

If you're looking for a nice waterfall hike in the Cincinnati area, Sharon Woods is the place to go. Start with the park entrance off SR42 and park by the Buckeye shelter. You'll be able to hear the water as you walk east to the creek. You'll see the first falls when you reach the banks of Sharon Creek.


Beautiful dawn light on the creek below the falls at Sharon Woods.

  There are bridges above and below the falls to allow you to access the other side of the creek. This is south of the falls. If you travel a little further upstream to the fall itself, you can get a better look at the geometric stone formations as the waters wash over them into the stream.




Water pours over the angular stone formations into the creek below.

Further up stream is another waterfall with easy access from the western bank. If you're lucky, the ducks may even pose for a photograph.

This duck posed for a 5 second exposure. I couldn't get a model release though, so please don't use this photo for commercial purposes.

Continue north along the creek path, and you will enter the gorge. There are a number of falls within the gorge, the view is limited to overlooks for the most part, because the sides of the gorge, and the creek banks are treacherous and fragile.

This view is from an overlook and is not the last of the falls in Sharon Woods. There are many along this gorge path, so make a trip and check them out!

The gorge trail is beautiful and you will see and hear a great deal of wildlife. The say I was there, I heard a number of turkeys, though I didn't get to see them. It's also a nice cool walk on a spring morning. Make a point of seeing these natural beauties if you can!

Dawn at Parky's Farm

For those of us who live in the city, we don't get the chance to see a pastoral sunrise very often. Most of our days are filled with urban towers or suburban lawns, so we may miss out on those peaceful moments that can be integral to rural life.

If you would like to steal a few moments closer to our agricultural roots (without the hard labor that goes with farming) do yourself a favor and head out to Parky's Farm. This is a 100 acre educational farm, complete with horses, ponies, and other animals. There are also wagon rides, playgrounds, and picnic areas for the family.

Do yourself a favor though, and check it out at dawn--it's really something during a colorful sunrise.

Wildflowers on the Kingfisher Trail

I really enjoy walking Winton Woods' Kingfisher Trail. The upper half of the trail climbs along a wooded ridge that overlooks a narrow meadow where you can see many bird species. Below that meadow the trail drops off into a wetland area alongside a stream which eventually feeds into the Mill Creek. The wetland is a great place to view waterfowl.

 Today, though, with the skies overcast and a couple of my slower lenses on hand, I decided to hike the trail looking for wildflowers. All it takes on a day like this is a tripod and the patience to wait out the occasional breeze.

Today, I came across clusters of Golden Ragwort near the stream itself. This was actually used for reproductive medicine for both men and women years ago. There are toxins in the plant, though, and it's no longer considered for medicinal purposes.

I also ran across some patches of Red Clover. The pinks and reds of this plant were very eye catching. I also like how the color contrasts with the green of the leaves.

I also like the blue/purple hues of the Appendaged Waterleaf. The tubular shape of the flowers probably makes them attractive to bees and butterflies, but I'll have to see these more often to confirm that theory.

Finally, I ran across a patch of Common or Philadelphia Fleabane. It was thought that these flowers, when dried, would keep fleas away. They are smaller than you would think (I really zoomed in on them to get this photo.) There were quite a number of these along the paths.

I am still learning how to identify these flowers and I found a really useful website to help: http://www.realtimerendering.com/flowers/flowers.html. I was able to find all of these quite easily using their system.

By the way, kudos to the park staff for getting the trail cleared after Tuesday's storm. We got 4 inches of rain over one evening and the streams flooded dramatically, carrying debris all over the walking paths. By the time I got there this morning, the paths were clear.

Until next time....

A Project to Give Back to the Parks of Hamilton County Ohio

Introductions are always so awkward, so let's get this out of the way. My name is Rob Amend , and I'm an amateur photographer in Cincinnati, OH. I have heard it said that, in order to take more interesting photos, you have to stand in front of more interesting stuff. I've also heard it said that, if you want interesting stuff to photograph, leave your hometown.

Baloney.

Every place on the planet has something to offer--a sight to see...a story to tell. I may be biased, but I feel that Cincinnati has many stories to offer, and more than enough fodder for an enthusiastic photographer. One of the jewels of this part of the country is Hamilton County's park system. There are parks, woods, forests, lakes, ponds, streams, wetlands, preserves, and shelters of all kinds throughout the county. There are also activities and educational activities galore. Just visit greatparks.org and see what I mean.

Unfortunately, in the middle of a recession, these parks do not have as much money as they need for marketing and promotion. I want to do my part to make sure that the system has photos available for promotion and to make sure that there is a voice encouraging people to visit and support the parks. To that end, I will be posting stories, news and photos here for the park system to use as they wish. There is a link to the right that will allow for downloads of photos with the tag "greatparks".

To people who work for the parks, feel free to download these for promotional purposes. To those who are just reading the blog, please take your own photos, place them on Flickr with the tag "greatparks", and also post to the parks' Flickr group (the link is to the right.)

Have a great day!