The book starts off this walk by calling it a "gorgeous, arduous" walk - the gorgeous we found to be true, the arduous not so much. There are not a lot of stairs on this walk, and it affords both beautiful views and beautiful travels through Eden Park. We definitely recommend this walk for anyone looking for a nice stroll in Cincinnati!
As will be usual, we recommend you follow this link to check out the trek as it was captured in Chris' Sports Tracker program using his Nokia phone and Cincinnati Bell. You can not only see the path exactly as we walked it (as tracked by GPS), but you should check out the pictures Chris took along the way.
We started the walk about halfway through the book's directions - we started at the corner of Parkside and Louden. For the walk down Parkside, the book recommends "peeking in at the courtyards along the way."
Despite our aspirations to be good directions-followers, we just didn't get the hang of the peeping Tom routine.
Follow the rest of our journey after the break!
At the bottom of Parkside, where it runs into Martin Road, Chris described a pleasant discovery:
We followed Martin up into the park where we stopped for some fun:
The book says the walls of the reservoir ruins have been given over to rock-climbing enthusiasts. I attempted to be one.
A bit further up the road, we finally officially entered Eden Park. Or, at least, we were finally formally welcomed to it.
On top of the east (southeast? the side I climbed up) end of the reservoir ruins you can find the original red pavestones. You can also find murder and intrigue!
This building has two historic pasts, according to the book: It was built as the Water Works pumping station for Walnut Hills and later was a police radio station.
The walk from the ruins, past the old pumping/police station, to the Ohio River Navigation Monument has a beautiful view of northern Kentucky every twenty feet or so. Seriously, it was a gorgeous day and a great view.
This is the Ohio River National Monument. We described some of the history of it here. There are also helpful plaques all the way around the base that give more "history according to the victors" info about the spot.
Across the street from the 30-foot erection that is the Ohio River monument Chris found what is now his favorite water fountain in all of Cincinnati. He cited the cool temperature, fresh taste, and strong pressure as to why he made that superlative determination.
We hung out at the monument overlook for a while enjoying the view and the water fountain, then made another discovery on our way toward the overlook near Twin Lakes (on Lakes Dr.):
You'll hopefully be happy to know we survived the descent.
Here are some of the discoveries we made at the bottom:
A war memorial!
An awesome bathroom!
Another great overlook!
Kind-of-two lakes and a bridge! Hence the name Twin Lakes overlook!
An interesting statue of a fisher!
A working payphone!
A creepy statue from Italy! Thanks, Italy... I'll send a thank you card when I quit finding it creepy.
Near the wolf-suckling-Rom&Rem we got to the official start of the walk. Let me drop some knowledge on you:
We followed Eden Park Drive past not one but TWO sets of concrete eagles. Our next stop?
For our path outta there, let Chris drop some knowledge on you:
Along good ol' Frederick Hinkle's namesake trail we found lots of great things:
The "lesser" gazebo!
The "lesser" fountain!
A shrine!
A sculpture for The Honorable Gilbert Bettman! "Soldier, Individualist, Legislator, Judge"!!!
Foliage! Flora! Fsidewalk!
Reservoir ruins! (hey, these look familiar...)
The greater fountain!
The greater gazebo!
Our trek through the Frederick Hinkle Floral Trail was actually quite solitary. At the overlooks and Mirror Lake there were a lot of people out enjoying the sunny day, but the walks around and through the woods were pretty peaceful and solitary. It turns out there are others who enjoy the more people-free peaceful parts:
This deer and two faun enjoyed a grassy meal for several minutes while we hung out across the street watching. Slower cars didn't startle them too much, but a faster, louder one got them to run back up into the hills.
We continued up the hill toward the park's Administration Building - across from it lay one of the few sets of steps on this walk, the Art Museum Steps. We found these to be lovely, well maintained stone steps.
Chris cresting the first leg of the Art Museum Steps.
Chris leading the way to the other part of the Art Museum Steps. You can see the museum off in the distance.
There it is! It was closed when we went by on this trip, but we stopped in on the next walk. :) What can I say, I like free things - like how the Cincinnati Art Museum is free all day every day!
Having passed the museum, we briefly marveled at the historic Eden Park bandstand.
We also paused to rest at what is most likely the coolest Metro bus stop in town!
We headed along the road (against the one-way flow of traffic - you can only see this in foot, folks!) toward...
Across from the Playhouse was the final descent, dumping us right where we'd started.
All in all, a fun and not-too-strenuous walk.
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