Twin Valley Trail connects Germantown and Twin Creek MetroParks with over 22 miles of hiking trails. Although it does not contain a regular campground like most Ohio State parks we visit, it does have primitive backpacking/horsecamping. 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 pit latreen available. You must have a permit for overnight camping. Call (937) 275-PARK in order to make reservations. We hiked the Scenic View to Dogwood Pond area of the trail (about 6 miles) and also visited the camp sites. There were more trails within the camp section of the park that we would like to explore another day, in addition to more hiking along the Twin Creek.

The trail system offered a wide variety of terrain and scenic views with some flat, grassland areas, scenic water overlooks, and fairly challenging wooded hiking trails. We visited on a cold December day, following several days of moderate rain and found the trails to be muddy and slippery in spots. While we stayed on the hiking trails, we observed that many of the trails had also been taken by horses – making the trails muddier and less easy to walk with ruts left behind. The trail system is well marked, with colored trail marker post frequently spaced along the trailhead. Maps are available at each trail entrance. Large roots and rocks are also marked with orange paint on the trails which was helpful when hiking some of the more steep portions of the trail. Most of the trail was well-blazed in flat areas, but did become pretty narrow in some of the steeper sections of the trail.

My husband and I both enjoyed the trail system for both the scenery and the challenging aspect of the hike. We chose not to bring the dogs with us on this hike because of the distance we planned to walk and were glad we made that choice. We did see hikers with their dogs but some of the more difficult areas may have been tough on our dogs. The blue and red trails that begin at the Scenic View area are shorter and less challenging. We hiked the Orange trail. At the Hopewell area we crossed over Chamberlain Road and visited the Pine Ridge Backcountry campsites. These were located in a pretty dense area of pine forest, with nice sized clearings for campsites.

Hikers will enjoy flat field areas that I am sure are full of grasses, wildflowers, and butterflies during the spring and summer months. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a hawk or two in the surrounding trees looking for mice hiding in the fields. The forested areas of the trails have a variety of hardwood trees, many that had significant moss coverage. There are nice scenic overlooks of the creek, and a fairly large pond. We observed many different birds (bluebirds, woodpeckers, cardinals, kingfishers) and I was surprised to find a variety of mushrooms even in the cold temperatures. Within the trail system you can also see a Hopewell burial mound and fort.

Overall, we loved the hike and look forward to returning again in warmer weather.

There are several hiking trails in the park:

• Silver – .8 miles
• Blue – 1.1 miles
• Red – 1.3 miles
• Green – 1.6 miles
• White – 2.0 miles
• Purple – 2.1 miles
• Pink – 2.2 miles
• Yellow – 2.9 miles
• Orange – 6 miles
• Here is a link to the trail map: http//:www.metroparks.org/Parks/TwinCreek/Maps.aspx