Trail Tale 1: Lindner Park, McCullough Estate Nature Preserve, November 2010

One day about a year ago, I stumbled upon this little gem of a nature preserve on the border of Norwood and Pleasant Ridge while taking a round-about way home from a lunch date.  I was hoping the ride would lull the boys into a nap, but we ended up exploring the trails instead.  I am somewhat familiar with the city of Norwood (I worked at the local library and later rented an apartment there for about a year), but I hadn't explored the area north of the Lateral where Lindner Park is located on a sleepy side street which features some really neat old homes, including those once occupied by members of the McCullough family.  So, finding this lovely and historically interesting site felt like I'd just discovered a secret treasure--of course, most of the hikes this year have felt that way since they are all new to me.


On a sunny Friday this past November, I took the boys back to Lindner Park to capture some photos for this blog entry and enjoy the beautiful day.  The inviting entrance to the park is off of Cypress Way.

A small paved parking lot is down the driveway, past the historic McCullough House, and on the left.  A very nice, shady picnic area is located at the end of the driveway near the parking lot with fairly new picnic tables, trash cans, and a working water fountain.  I did not get a photo of the picnic area for some reason, but this is the view from that spot looking toward a formal garden and the house beyond.

We found the restrooms in the building shown below, to the left of the garage doors.  In this view the picnic area is on the right, the house is on the left, and the woods are to my back.

Turning around, we found a trail head to the woods beside a bench overlooking the gardens.  After a quick snack and trip to the restroom, the boys were ready to go!

[NOTE:  This hike is divided into two posts--this post covers the Pawpaw trail at Lindner Park and the following post will describe the Cypress Trail.]


Just a few yards into the hike, we came to the first of several spectacular big trees.  These really stand out in comparison to the smaller, newer trees which make up much of these woods.

Some are nicely labelled, as you can see with this American Sweetgum:

And here we go down the trail...

Soon into the walk, we pass by the remnants of some old structures on the property...

...and quickly encounter a brand-new structure.  This sturdy fence protects hikers from a drop in the landscape and runs alongside the trail. 

It's hard to keep two active boys from climbing the fence, though I did succeed in keeping their climbs to a minimum.

The view is over a small ravine containing a creek and the trail eventually descends to that point.  A big Sycamore looms up from the ravine and I can't help but notice my shadow in it's trunk as I lean onto the fence.  Can you see it?

The trail continues on a little ways before it dips down toward the creek.  It's a bit steep and my 2 year old needed some help, but there are plenty of roots to serve as footholds.  The photos below give you an idea.

Shortly after the descent, we come to the first of two foot bridges (no handrails) crossing the small creek--always a point of interest for the kids.

Soon after the bridge we make a huge discovery--Nature's Own Jungle Gym!!

Welcome to the Jungle Gym

Enjoy Your Stay

Use Caution While Climbing

All Sticks Must Remain in the Play Area

Please Do Not Swing on the Vines

Benches Are Provided for Resting

Come Back Soon!

I took a ton of pictures of the boys at this awesome little nook in the woods created by a fallen tree.  These are only a select few--I could add more, but then I'd be gushing.  It was a lot of fun though and certainly a feature to enjoy.  On down the trail, you walk alongside the creek, which was very dry as all the creeks have been this year.  Soon we came to the second foot bridge.

Here is where a hint of sewage invaded the air.  It is known, according to the park brochure, that "Unfortunately, the creek receives sewer water from Cincinnati and at times can be an unpleasant place to be."  Yep.  It wasn't overpowering on this day, but still, we didn't linger for very long.  We made our way along the other side of the creek and eventually up some stone steps that took us back up to the restrooms and parking lot.

This completed our venture on the Pawpaw Trail.  With our stop and spontaneous photo shoot at the "jungle gym", this portion of the walk took us 35 minutes.  We decided to continue our hike on the Cypress Trail. Please see the entry which follows for the description of the Cypress Trail!