Sycamore State Park Trails Review

4675 Diamond Mill Road, Trotwood, OH 45426 (937) 854-4452

http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/sycamore

Sycamore State Park is an Ohio State Park located a little over 20 minutes northwest of Dayton, Ohio. Although it does not contain a regular campground like most Ohio State parks we visit, Sycamore does have a horse camp (primitive). It does not have electricity or water hook ups, however, there is a water source within the camp for the horses. There is also a porta-potty available. The cost is $16 per night. There is also a group camp for organize camps. You must call (513) 523-6347 in order to make reservations. We did not have access to the group camp so we can’t share much about it. However, we did walk through the horse camp. It was very basic. For those who want to camp with more modern conveniences and/or do not have horses, there is a KOA campground located within 7 minutes of this state park (Dayton KOA).

Within the park, there is a 3 acre pond and smaller pond for fishing. The smaller pond is for youth 15 and under. The park also includes a picnic shelter that includes two fireplaces, electricity (15 amp) and 75 parking spaces. It can be reserved online. There is also a basic playground.

We visited the park on a Sunday afternoon in December just to hike with our dogs. We chose Sunday because the park allows hunting but not on Sundays. There are certain parts of the park that are no-hunting zones. Hunting for squirrels or deer is permitted on all other days assuming you have a hunting license.

We hiked two trails while we were there: the Beech Ridge Trail and the Ghost Hedge Trail. While both trails were well-blazed, much of the scenery was bland. There was dense amount of thicket and hedge apple trees. I don’t want to seem like a hiking snob, however, I prefer trails with hardwood trees and pine trees. Though these trees did exist, much of it was thicket. To be fair, it was winter when we visited so there were no leaves and less wildlife. We should return in the spring to make a better judgment. There were two ponds and a river which did make the trails more appealing. The Ghost Hedge Trail was quiet and peaceful. Amy found some mushrooms and we did observe some Cardinals, Woodpeckers, and Robins.

Overall, the park’s trails were ok, not much to get overly excited about. If you are in the area or camping at the nearby KOA campground, stop by and hike a few miles. Happy hiking!

There are four main hiking trails in the park:

• Ghost Hedge Trail – 2.97 Miles – Easy
• Beech Ridge Trail – 1.3 Miles – Moderate
• Meadowlark Trail – 1.3 Miles – Moderate
• Heron Run Trail – 1.73 Miles – ModerateThere are also several bridle trails:

• Several trails total 18 miles
• The Snowmobile Trail can be used as a bridle trail when conditions permit

Here is a link to the trail map:

http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/portals/parks/pdfs/parks/maps/sycamore/sycamoretrailmap.pdf