TrailMail
October 2014 
Friends of the Little Miami State Park is a non-profit group of volunteers dedicated to restoring and maintaining safety on the park's scenic trail. Working under the sanction of the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, the Friends provide almost all maintenance on the trail. We depend on your support and invite you to join us in serving our community.
In This Issue
1854 Trail Guide: Fosters
Drainage: A Moving Experience
Blogger's Ohio to Erie Trail ride
Help Wanted
EVENT: Give-back day at Travertine Fen
What's a Pipe Safe?
1854 Trail Guide: Fosters

by Janet Slater  

You're right; there was no bike trail here 160 years ago. But there was the Little Miami Railroad, and our trail is built directly on its foundation. So follow along in this 1854 guide written for travelers on the iron horse. With elections approaching, we'll focus this month on Fosters, where we'll meet a famous Ohio politician and hear some political commentary bemoaning the present (1854) state of national affairs. We're traveling north from Cincinnati:

 

"FOSTER'S CROSSINGS is on the left, and takes its name from the original resident here. It is simply a house, a bridge, and a station. The [Little] Miami river is here crossed by the Montgomery turnpike, from Cincinnati to Wilmington [present Rte. 22/3]. The situation is a very pleasant one. There are hills on both sides, the valley being here compressed within narrow limits. The bridge, a plain simple structure, conducts to the road which you see winding up the hills on the other side.

 

"Just before you come to Foster's Crossings, you will notice on the west bank of the river a large mill and plain frame house. This was the residence of one of the real statesmen of our country . . . "  More story and picture of Fosters in 1854
Drainage
Drainage: A Moving Experience

Bruce Cortright and Mike Dresch have been playing--er, working--in the dirt again. This time they took the tractor/backhoe to the southern section of our trail to clear culverts and drainage ditches. The big project of the day was finding and opening a buried culvert and clearing the ditch that was filled all the way to trail level, sending rainwater across the trail. The photo shows how much dirt the guys dug out of the ditch and then moved to the river side of the trail.

Trail adopters and volunteers will keep the water flowing by removing any small logs and branches that fall in the ditches, so they don't trap soil and leaves and create another clog.

Bruce Cortright, our newest board member, has taken on responsibility for FLMSP's drainage work. If you can help, please respond to this newsletter.

 

Blogger's Ohio to Erie Trail ride          

Last month, Columbus blogger Steve Wartenberg biked the entire Ohio to Erie Trail (330 miles) in five days with a few of the people responsible for creating it. Here's what he said about Loveland:

"We stopped in Loveland for lunch, and this little town is a perfect example of how biking and bikers can create economic stimulus.

"'There wasn't anything along here before the trail,' said Jerry, who has ridden the trail many, many times.

 "Scores of bikes were in racks in front of restaurants located along the trail and we had pizza at The Works. The town was crammed full of people on bikes. It was like some sort of alternative world where everyone rode bikes all the time. I want to live in this world."

You can read all of Steve Wartenberg's Ohio to Erie Trail blog entries in the Columbus Dispatch here.

Help Wanted

  

Volunteers with carpentry skills to help plan and build our information kiosks (see photo below).

Fence Crew: If you have some upper body strength, are good at problem solving, can work with power tools, help us repair trail fences this winter when weather permits.

Drainage Crew: see article in this issue

To volunteer for these crews, please send your name and phone number to flmspohHotline@gmail.com, or reply to this newsletter. 



The Friends is a nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation and enhancement of the Little Miami State Park. We assist the Ohio Department of Natural Resources with development planning, routine maintenance, capital improvements, and safety concerns.   
 
Next Meeting

 Please join us for our open meeting!

Sunday, November 23

4:00 p.m.

 

Location will be posted on our website 

Trail Hotline


 513-212-6958

adopt-a-trail@flmsp.org

 

Call or email to report downed trees or other non-emergency safety issues. Photos helpful!

 

Quick Links
 
 
  
  
  
Fens & Friends 

 

 Give Back Day

 Saturday, Nov. 1

Your help is needed to improve and restore Travertine Fen State Nature Preserve!

Help FLMSP and kindred organizations continue the protection of this national treasure. Travertine Fen is a 21-acre state nature preserve adjoining our trail in Greene County, currently open by special permit only. It's situated along the base of a wide hill with numerous artesian springs and seeps, and it contains one of the largest open prairie fen meadows in the state.

This is going to be a great social and educational work event with a barbeque grill-out lunch. The state's best naturalists, botanists, geologists, and ecologists will be available to answer your questions and discuss the natural history and geological features of this unique site. Click here for more information, or contact Don Mills of FLMSP.

 

What's a Pipe Safe?

Pipe safes, like this one, were installed along the trail by the Friends years ago to collect donations for trail maintenance and improvements. But many people never noticed them. Mike Dresch recently painted them all in optic yellow so you can't miss them. Please let Mike know you can see them now by dropping in a few dollars next time you're on the trail! Pipe safes are located at several trail access points. 

 

 

 

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Nuts on the Trail

Yes, we know about those crazy cyclists that swerve around you on the trail without a word, leaving your heart pounding. But the nuts we're talking about here are the ones that fall from the trees this time of year. Run over one and it can knock you flat--so be aware.