This Spring we hiked in Cantwell Cliffs
park near our home and it was a total
mess. Trees across paths and paths that
were washed out. Steps down into the gorge
had trees, limbs and were washed also
and the trails were in general not even safe.
I was thoroughly aggravated as to the decrease
in state funding by the Governor to the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources which was
leaving our parks under manned and eroding.
Ohio’s State Parks and especially the Hocking
Hills State Parks is what generates a sizable
portion of Ohio’s tourist dollars.
And tourism in my county around the parks
is what generates employment and dollars
for this very under employed ridden county.
A letter was sent to the Governor which was
passed on to the ODNR and a cleanup was
made at Cantwell Cliffs.
I hope the letter did not cause a dress down
to the ODNR but my aim was to keep them
from getting more funding cuts which are in
the works even now.
Anyway, the park was cleaned up and
I and the tourists who hike the area parks
are grateful and safer for it.
It also may be due to an election year
for the Governor, whatever it takes. LOL!
My thanks goes to the park Rangers,
Naturalist, employees and volunteers
who are the ones who did the work.
So a revisit to the park was in order.
A real hornets nest may have led to a
cleaned up park which enabled us to see
this nest that was attached to a small
Hemlock in the gorge.
The bees were very busy going in and out
of the paper nest.
The paths are now cleaned up and
cleared of fallen trees along with the many
steps leading up and down into the
gorge below.
We could walk about and finally get down
into the gorge to look around at the cliffs
for which it was named for.
New paint had been sprayed on trees
marking the different trails.
We got to the bottom of the cliffs and this
is looking up from one of the cliff walls
to the trail and bridge above where the rim
trail runs.
This is another portion of the trail leading down
which was now cleaned and now passable.
Finally got to walk along the creek that runs
along the gorge trails.
Through the trees cliffs and caves are
all along the gorge below.
Many summer native plants such as this
False Foxtail and Jewel Weed were in bloom.
This Hepatica Sharp lobbed plant was a new
one that we had not ran across before in our hikes
of the parks.
And berries from Solomon Seal and other shrubs
were in abundance for the birds and animals.
