Blackbird State Forest, Delaware 5/18/2026

Earlier this week, while camping at Blackbird State Forest in central Delaware, we did some hiking around the state forest. The forest has a rather complicated network of trails, but there are three marked loop routes which make navigation easier.

Our campsite at Blackbird State Forest (#15)

State forest boundary marker

It was going to be a very hot day, so we got an early start. We began by following the Blue Loop counterclockwise through the eastern side of the forest. The trail wound through mature forest, mostly hardwood, with a thick green understory. It also passed along a field edge at one point. It was well maintained and easy to follow, with markers at every intersection.

Heading down the Yellow Loop to get to the Blue Loop

On the Blue Loop

Passing along a field on the Blue Loop

After completing the Blue Loop, we took a water break back at the campground, before continuing onto the Red Loop on the west side of the forest. We also went around this loop counterclockwise, and the terrain was very similar to that of the Blue Loop, with a few tiny hills. It was pretty easy going with how flat and level the terrain was, and it was a great hike for a very hot day!

A typical section of trail

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Ebright Azimuth, Delaware 5/17/2026

This wasn't exactly a hike per se, but on Sunday, we visited the highest peak in Delaware, Ebright Azimuth! Ebright Azimuth is the easiest of all of the 50 state high points to visit, as the recognized high point is on the sidewalk of a busy road. Because the area is so flat, the actual highest spot is disputed, but there is a large sign at the commonly recognized spot on the sidewalk.

The area around the high point 

Sign at the recognized high point 

After parking along the road, we started the arduous trek a couple hundred feet along the sidewalk to the summit. At the summit, we enjoyed the spectacular views of the nearby trailer park and posed for pictures with the summit sign. We were thankful for the provided bench to rest on after such a difficult journey!

Sampson & I at the highest point in Delaware!

USGS marker

Liberty Park, Ohio 5/16/2026

This morning's hike was at Liberty Park in Twinsburg, one of the Summit County Metro Parks. The park has multiple areas, and we went to the largest of those, the Twinsburg Ledges Area. We started by making loops on the Bluebird Trail and Coyote Run Trails. These easy trails made loops through grassland and shrub habitats with lots of birds along the trails.

Park entrance sign

Directional sign at the trailhead 

Bluebird Trail

We then made a loop on the Black Bear Trail. This trail wound through upland hardwood forest with some areas of impressively large trees.

Black Bear Trail

The last loop we made was on the Ledges Trail. We did the loop clockwise and it first went along a long boardwalk and observation deck at a wetland. Soon after the observation deck, it reached the ledges. These impressive cliffs had multiple large cracks and caves. Most were closed to exploration, but the largest one, called Glacier Cave, was open to public access. The cave was typical of the ones in the area and had a few different short passages and deep cracks in the ledge to explore.

Boardwalk on the Ledges Trail

Observation deck on the Ledges Trail

The ledges

After exploring the cave a bit, we returned to the trailhead. It was a great, well maintained, trail system, and I always enjoy checking out the ledge and cave formations in this part of Ohio.

The entrance to Glacier Cave

Glacier Cave

Glacier Cave

Glacier Cave

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Center Valley Park, Ohio 5/15/2026

This weekend, we are visiting family in Ohio, and I decided to take a morning hike on some trails near where we are staying. Center Valley Park in Twinsburg has two parts divided by railroad tracks in the middle. We parked at the north end of the park and started by walking down a paved bike path through the west side of the park. This bike path was a nice walk and had two bridges over Tinkers Creek.

Entrance Sign

On the bike path 

Tinkers Creek

Maps of the park showed a network of trails off of the bike path on this side of the park. We tried multiple of these trails, but we found that they were all overgrown, muddy, and very poorly maintained. Instead, we stayed on the bike path to its southern trailhead.

One of the poorly maintained trails 

Despite the poor maintenance of the trails, we did come across this impressive staircase!

After making a connection on sidewalls to the east side of the park, we followed the Old Hickory Trail back north. This was the nicest part of the hike as the gravel path wound its way through mature hardwood forest with some huge hickory trees. This section of trail also had a lot of nice boardwalks and bridges. Upon reaching the northern entrance to the trail, we made the connection back to where we parked on sidewalks.

Bridge on the Old Hickory Trail 

Old Hickory Trail

Old Hickory Trail

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