John Bryan State Park, OH

ABOUT THE PARK: 

John Bryan State Park - Ohio Department of Natural Resources

 

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 39.78696, -83.86276

TRAIL MAP: 

John Bryan State Park Trail Map - Ohio Department of Natural Resources

 

HIKE DISTANCE: 3.3 miles

THE HIKE: 

Drive 'n hike New Jersey to Missouri to help my mother who recently had hip replacement surgery.  This is hike 1 of 2 on the day 2.  Where I usually would drive 4 hours, hike 8-10 miles, then drive another 4 hours, I broke this down into shorter drives with two shorter hikes because of where I am  with working my way back to full speed after my hip replacement surgery.

A connector trail to the North Rim Trail from the parking lot.

At the North Rim Trail we turned left.  Shawnee and I had hiked the opposite direction back on November 30, 2009.

There are overlooks and access points for rappelling but even with little foliage, not much to be seen down below.

The view from an overlook.

The trail was lined with bluebells.

Right on the John L Rich Trail down into the gorge.  The North Rim Trail continues but ...

... it soon entered Clifton Gorge Nature Preserve where dogs are not allowed.

Descending on the John L Rich Trail.

At the bottom a bridge crosses over Little Miami River.

I managed to dig up some pictures of when Shawnee and I hiked here previously.  April 16, 2021 compared to November 30, 2009.

Crossing the bridge over ...

Little Miami River (2021 and 2009)

Now on the South Gorge Trail which follows along Little Miami River.

A wood duck in a tree.

Wouldn't it be nice to live in that house?

At a fork the South Gorge Trail is to the left, we went right closer to the water.

The trail seems to get a fair amount of use as it is well-defined but there are several downed trees to go over or around.

But the views are great from this level.

Coming up on the bridge to cross back over to the other side.

A gorgeous yellow-throated warbler.

Now on the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati State Coach ...

... to where it ends at the park road.  A hard right just beyond the gate ...

... leads back to the North Rim Trail and the connector trail to the parking lot.

Ohiopyle State Park, PA - Johnathan Run

ABOUT THE PARK:

Ohiopyle State Park -  Pennsylvania DCNR

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 39.891847, -79.507867

Johnathan Run Trailhead Parking Lot

TRAIL MAP: 

Ohiopyle State Park Map - Pennsylvania DCNR

Ohiopyle - Laurel Highlands Purple Lizard Map - Purple Lizard Maps

HIKE DISTANCE:  5.1 miles

THE HIKE: 

Drive 'n hike New Jersey to Missouri to help my mother who recently had hip replacement surgery.  This is hike 2 of 2 on the day 1.  Where I usually would drive 4 hours, hike 8-10 miles, then drive another 4 hours, I broke this down into shorter drives with two shorter hikes because of where I am  with working my way back to full speed after my hip replacement surgery.

The Johnathan Run Trail starts right from the parking lot.  Where this is a very busy trail on weekends, I had it all to myself on a weekday. 

The trail soon starts to follow Johnathan Run.

The yellow blazes denote hiking only trail,  Later on the blazes will be red denoting hiking and biking.

More and more cascades the farther along we went.

Nice sturdy bridges on all water crossings.

I remembered there was something to see on the Sugar Run Trail (I had left my map in the car, doh! There was no cell service and I hadn't downloaded the map on my Gaia app so I could not see the trails on my phone.  That is what I get for changing my plan at the last minute due to weather changes and not checking the details.)

We headed up the Sugar Run Trail and I would not know it until we headed back but the main attraction was on the right a short distance after this bridge.

It was a very pretty trail with lots of views just before the leaves all pop out.

This trail allows hiking and biking but doesn't seem to be used much.  We turned around at the blow down and headed back as the trail was veering off in the wrong direction for us.

Heading back.

It is on the way back that I could see a huge waterfall to the left and a trail heading down but it was hard going with tons of downed trees to go over and under.

I believe it was Fetcher Run Falls we could see in the distance but we passed by this smaller waterfall on the way down.  Or this might be Fetcher Run Falls, not sure.

At Fetcher Run ...

... the huge waterfall could not be seen at all.  But it was pretty down there nonetheless.

Heading back up to the Sugar Run Trail.

After crossing that little bridge, left to continue on the Johnathan Run Trail.

This was the only shot I was able to get of a raccoon crossing the trail ahead of us and disappearing into the woods.

Coming up on the Great Allegheny Passage ...

... where we turned left.

Great Allegheny Passage

In less than a quarter of a mile, left on the Mitchell Field Trail.

This leads up steeply in a short distance to Sugar Run Falls.

We continued on up thinking there might be some views up there.

There were no views so we headed back down.

Back to the Great Allegheny Passage.

Before turning right on the Johnathan Run Trail to retrace ...

... a break at that bench.  It was Brodie's first hard treat in 2 weeks as he was on soft food only after having his molar extracted.  He really savored that cookie.

Taking some short side trails on the right to check out other falls down below but they just don't show up well in pictures.

Back at the car.

It had spritzed off and on throughout the hike and of course the sun came out the moment we arrived back at the car.

Sugar Run Falls: