Monday, July 25, 2011

Mitchell Memorial Forest and Miami Whitewater Forest - Ohio

We recently decided to spend a day checking out a couple of parks in Hamilton County, Ohio. The first was Mitchell Memorial Forest. We walked down Wood Duck Nature Trail. The shot on the left was of an old dam. The pond area that it traps is full of lilies! We unfortunately missed them blooming but I think we may try to return to see them in bloom. You can barely see this dam from the family friendly trail. You will have to do a little off trail to get this close. Be forewarned there is a fence between you and this. I know, I know but this was too pretty to pass up! It was only a small detour and my husband kept the kids on the trail. We enjoyed the trail which is only about a mile. Ivy played in a small almost dry creek. She found bugs and flowers to check out. After we were done with the trail we went to play at their playground. It was small but cute. The issue we had with this park was that there was not any shade over it. It was very hot and sunny on this day. It did not take long and the kids were ready to run for the shade of the neighboring trees.

Ivy Took Bella's hand and said "Let's go find an adventure Bell." I got this shot of them walking off into the trees. We just followed behind them. We found a small clearing at the end. It was not a very long trail but they were super thrilled with it. The entrance is right by the park. It was a pretty little clearing with a small well which was covered.

After this we headed back to the car. We had a snack in the shade of the trees by our car. After that we headed to Miami Whitewater Forest which is only about 10 minutes away.
We cooled down and got some drinks out of the cooler before heading out onto the next trail we had picked out. We went down the Tallgrass Prairie Trail. It was very pretty! It is also only about a mile. It was slightly more hilly but still manageable with the jogging stroller. When we got to the Prairie we tried to locate all of the plants that were on the sign. It was fun. We found quite a few of them and other things, like blackberries. After the trail we played Frisbee in the clearing by the parking area for the trail. It is fairly large and grassy. This was Bella's first time playing Frisbee. She loved to throw it but could only get it a foot or two. She would clap and yell "Good Job!" Anytime she or anyone threw it. We played for about a half an hour before moving on.

The next stop was the lake. We parked in the little bit of shade we could find in the lot. We walked along the paved trail by the lake stopping to admire the view, a couple ducks and a willow tree. There is a very large playground and the visitor center by the parking lot and lake. We took the kids to play at the playground and realised there is a water park here as well. It was super hot so they were practically drooling at the site of the water! We had to walk around the corner to the snack bar to purchase a bracelet. We only had to get Ivy one because Bella is under two. We did not even have suits with us, lol. That did not stop them from having a blast!The water park has a pirate theme complete with a ship!

The Info:
Location of Mitchell Memorial Forest: 5401 Zion Rd. Cleves, OH 45002
Features park offers: 3.9 mile mountain bike trail, hiking, picnic areas, playground, and catch and release fishing only.
Cost: Free because we purchased a park pass on a previous visit. If not it is $3 for the day or the year pass is only $10!
Location of Miami Whitewater Forest: 9001 Mt. Hope Rd. Harrison, OH 45030
Features: Wetlands, trails, Frisbee golf, golf course, equestrian trail, snack bar, campground, picnic and shelter areas, lake, fishing, boat rentals, wet playground, playground, and visitor center.
Cost: Free with pass. $3 for day pass or $10 for year pass
Cost of Water Playground: $2 each or 3 for $5

Breakdown of Our Day:
Arrive at Mitchell Memorial Forest (12pm)
Walk Wood Duck Nature Trail (12pm to 1:15pm)
Potty Break and Play at Playground (1:15pm to 1:45)
Small Trail Walk (1:45pm to 2pm)
Snack in Shade by the entry to Wood Duck Nature Trail (2:00 to 2:15pm)
Drive to Miami Whitewater Forest (2:15pm to 2:30pm)
Walk Tallgrass Prairie Trail (2:30pm to 3:30pm)
Played Frisbee by trail parking area (3:30 to 4pm)
Potty Break (4pm to 4:05pm)
Walk around Lake (4:10pm to 4:30pm)
Played at Playground (4:30 to 4:50pm)
Brought bracelet for wet Playground (4:50 to 5pm)
Played at Wet Playground (5pm to 6pm)
Dried off kids and got them changed (6pm to 6:20pm)
Left park (6:20pm)
We stopped for Pizza for dinner.
 This was a tiring day in the sun for all of us. The whole house slept soundly that night!

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