Ride to East Fork State Park

Easter Sunday was absolutely beautiful this year and the lush green countryside kept calling to me. And since it was Sunday, my favorite day to ride, I took off on the Buddy with no particular destination in mind.

On Olive Branch Road I passed this low-lying log cabin situated on a little fishing lake. I stopped to admire the view and watch some ducks paddle over the pond's glassy surface:

About 25 miles east of my neck of the woods in Clermont County is the East Fork Lake State Park. I decided to head out that way and do a little exploring.

The East Fork Lake is an "artificial" lake, which means years ago the Army Corps of Engineers basically flooded the valley and farmland and created this huge lake. Kind of like they did in "Deliverance" when they flooded the land to make this huge lake. Kind of fascinating, kind of creepy.

The park has several access points and I entered it from the area where the camping sites are, which is off of Old SR 32.

Sadly all these camping sites are occupied by concrete parking pads for RVs! No tent camping so there went any idea of riding out here and camping solo or with a group on the scoot.

They do have primitive backpacking camping on the other side of the park, but I am a bit timid for that. Particularly since there have been multiple Big Foot sightings around the park! No, I am not kidding!

So I scooted into the park from Old SR 32 between Williamsburg and Batavia and parked my scoot at the camp store, hoping to get some maps and learn more about the park:

Here at the camp store I bought a tee shirt with a heron on it and a Payday bar and some lemonade to wet my whistle. The lady in the shop was very nice and offered me lots of information about the area.

I honestly had not been here in a few years and so got a good overview of what is at the lake: boating, fishing, camping, hiking, mountain biking trails, a paved bike trail, horseback riding, and miniature golf to name a few of the many things to do at the lake. There is also a paved bike trail that runs from the park to Williamsburg.

I left the camp store and headed out into the camp site area to see what it was like. There were many sites and many of them were "pet friendly". The settings were quiet and nicely nestled back among the the trees and grassy slopes. I counted very few campers and all of course in RVs.

Down at the boat launch I looked out over the expanse of the lake where a few people had set up to fish from the outlying pier:

The boat launch was very busy with lots of boats being hauled out and put in the water. They were lined up all along the parking lot:

Looking out over the water there was this island of trees which appeared pretty in the otherwise utilitarian setting of the boat launch:

Looking at this reminded me that this lake actually flooded out many farms and a few villages. Old timers will tell the stories though I am not sure there is really any definitive history detailing the scope of the lost villages and farms. I plan to try to do some local research on this in the county.

There is evidently some fine backpacking in the park and this website offers some additional facts about the East Fork lake and trails:

http://backpackohio.com/eastfork.html

From this site:

"Head about 30 miles due south from Caesar Creek Lake and you'll hit the shores of William H. Harsha Lake (a.k.a East Fork Lake). This 2160-acre man-made lake created for flood control in 1978 is the centerpiece of East Fork State Park-one of Ohio's largest.

Man's history in this area dates back to 3,000 years ago when the mound building Hopewell and Adena Indians occupied the area. Some of their handiwork stills remains in the southern section of the park. Fast forward to the late 1860s, when gold was mined at two locations in the park's vicinity. This minor "rush" resulted in the formation of the Batavia Gold Mining Company, whose existence didn't last a year.

Like Caesar Creek, East Fork is located in the glaciated Till Plains, so expect similar topography. Despite advancing development from the west, low rolling wooded hill, abandoned farmlands and swampy lowlands create the park's landscape and lay protected inside the park's boundaries.

East Fork Wildlife area occupies approximately 2000 acres at the eastern one-third of the lake. The areas woodlands contain beech, sugar maple, red and white oak, shagbark hickory and wild black cherry trees. The wetter lowland forests are composed of silver maple, American elm, black gum and sycamore. The meadows and remnant prairies contain big blue stem grass, purple cone flower and more."

More about the park's history and natural beauty can be found here:

http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/eastfork#history


Directions:

Scoot down Summerside Road from Old SR 74 behind Eastgate Mall.

Turn RIGHT onto Barg Salt Run. Scoot out this until you come out at Round Bottom Road.

Go RIGHT on Round Bottom Road and pass Tealtown Road on your RIGHT. As the road gently curves left, turn RIGHT onto Binning Road.

Follow Binning Road out to the stop sign at the bridge (on your left), but go STRAIGHT ahead and follow this sweeping road out past the new condo development on your left.

At the stop light of Amelia-Olive Branch road (which you are on) and Old SR 74, turn LEFT.

Follow this out until it dead ends and turn LEFT. Go down the hill to the light and turn RIGHT and follow this into the village of Batavia.

Here you can explore a bit and then head out of town on Old SR 32 toward the Clermont Mercy Hospital area where you will see Bauer Road on your LEFT.

Continue on STRAIGHT out Old SR 32 then travel on a few miles to the entrance to the park on your RIGHT.

There are plenty of places to eat, gas up, or use the restroom along the way, especially if you take Bauer Road to your left out of Batavia and go over near Clermont Mercy Hospital.

If you like cemeteries, a pretty one is just on your left as you head up the hill on Old SR 32 out of the village of Batavia.

Covered Bridge Ride, Stonelick Township

Last Sunday I took a little ride out to the Stonelick Covered Bridge in Clermont County Ohio on the Buddy Psycho. This is a nice 20 mile loop ride from my home on back roads.

The bridge site is located off Stonelick-Williams Corner Road near Owensville. On February 11 of this year the bridge collapsed while under renovation. Luckily no one was hurt, but the bridge was a total loss. There are, however, plans for future restoration at some point.

Here is the bridge as I saw it last year when I discovered it on a car ride:

This was the last surviving covered bridge in Clermont County, built in 1878. Here is a brief history of the bridge from Wikepedia:

"The Stonelick Covered Bridge is located on Stonelick-Williams Corner Road in Clermont County, Ohio, crossing the Stonelick Creek. The one-lane covered bridge was built in 1878. It is 140 feet long and supported using a 12-panel Howe truss. The property was added to the National Register on September 10, 1974, being the last surviving covered bridge in Clermont County.

In 1983 a garbage truck broke through the floor. It also suffered some fire damage in 1991. A creek bank revetment project was undertaken in 1999 to prevent further erosion from undermining the bridge.[2]

The bridge was permanently closed to all traffic in May 2010 after its floor and supporting structure was severely damaged by an overweight truck. Repair and rehabilitation, including improvements to raise the weight limit from 3 to 12 tons, was initially estimated to cost $1.2 million USD.[3]

After funds and approval for the rehabilitation project were obtained, a request for bids was made in April 2013, with an updated engineer's estimate of work at $720,000.[4] Construction work began in October 2013. A temporary steel falsework was constructed under the bridge to give additional structural support during the work and to provide work platforms, followed by the removal of all the siding.[5] Additional work to be performed included the replacement of all siding and the roof, additional structural support, repointing and grouting of stonework, and addition of lighting and security systems.[6]

On February 11, 2014 the upper shell of the bridge unexpectedly collapsed, falling off the deck and into the river bed, as repair work was being performed. All workers escaped without serious injury.[7][8] After assessing the collapse, the County and the contractor have determined to continue the process of restoring the bridge. They now plan to completely disassemble the bridge, inspect each component to determine whether it needs to be replaced, and continue the restoration as originally planned, using as many original components as possible.[9]"


Last Sunday I took the 10 mile ride over to view the bridge, or what was left of it. This is the south entrance to the construction area:

This is the view from the side, looking northeast. As you can see all that remains are two steel rails spanning the river:

I turned around on this road and scooted less than a tenth of a mile over to the historic St. Philomena Catholic Church, the oldest Catholic church in Clermont County, built in 1839:

As I face the church, to my backside is the Stonelick Creek. This grated platform spanned the bridge and was closed to pedestrian traffic, but I couldn't resist a closer look:

A man had been standing in the middle of it earlier when I arrived, shooting photos of the churning Stonelick Creek. I passed on that photo op as I don't do heights!

Here is a view of the newer span that I came over to get to the covered bridge and church:

I left the area and headed back home. Along the way I took one of my favorite back roads and passed by this "free range" chicken farm. Or at least a farm with lots of chickens running loose and a few cow friends hanging out too:

I stopped to chat with her and she was a bit curious about my black scooter. Perhaps a relative?

Naw, probably not!

The Buddy performed flawlessly. It was comfortable to ride and easy to manage. I've added a basket to the back, zipped tied right on to the stock seat rail. This is temporary until I get a real rear rack.

I am concerned about visibility on this black scoot, awesome as it looks. I may add a hi viz yellow flag this weekend.

***********************************************************************************

Though the covered bridge no longer exists for now, you can still enjoy a ride out to the area as I did and see the old church and cemetery.

Just take Route 50 EAST out of Milford and pass the UDF on the right at Round Bottom Road.

Continue on to Williams Corner Road on your LEFT. Turn here and it is a short jaunt out over the little bridge. See the church on your RIGHT and if you go LEFT you will come to the bridge restoration area.

There is a residence right by this area, so please be sure not to park so as to obstruct their drive way.

If you go back WEST on Route 50 toward Milford a RIGHT on Sugar Camp Road will take you on a delightful twisty road along a creek up to Route 131.

Route 131 EAST (right) can take you out into the northern areas of Clermont County for some awesome back road riding.

Check out Stonelick Lake and beach and the little mom and pop restaurant in Newtonsville called "The Gathering Place".

Enjoy a day of slow riding out in the northern reaches of Clermont County.

Food,Fuel, Restrooms: The UDF on Round Bottom Road and Route 50 will get you fueled up and provide you with snacks and a restroom stop along the route.