After I walked in Hocking Hills in September, I spent a half day walking around the Richfield Heritage Preserve in Richfield, Ohio. The Richfield Heritage Preserve is 336 acres of forests, lakes, creeks, and trails. You can find out more about it on the Friends of Richfield Heritage Preserve Website.
The Richfield Heritage Preserve was also once two Girl Scout camps next to each other, Camp Juliet Crowell and Camp Hilaka. I spent many summers in the early eighties at Girl Scout camp. There were cabins and tent sites. I remember going to Horse Camp for a week and realizing that I did not like horses. There was boating on the lake, and there was a swimming pool too. I remember campfires and mosquitoes and cleaning latrines. Mostly, I remember walking from place to place. I might even say that my love of walking started at Girl Scout camp.
The Girl Scouts sold the camp in the twenty teens, and the property eventually became the Richfield Heritage Preserve. It is open to the public between dawn and dusk with hiking trails, buildings, and latrines. There are even trail maps, but the trails are a series of loops and easy to follow.
Wanting to tramp around the old camp grounds, I dragged my brother with me to Richfield. After we pulled into the parking lot, I immediately spotted the old dining hall which was getting decorated for a wedding reception. Looking at the wood beams on the ceiling and the old stone fireplace, I knew where I was. We used to eat crappy food and sing camp songs there.
We walked to the lake where the old boat house still was. There were folks kayaking out on the lake, so the lake was still in fine form. We walked around the lake and found one of the old cabins. There was a kitchen in the front and a huge open room where we slept on mattresses on the floor. There was a latrine behind the cabin. When we were winter camping in the cabin, that latrine was brutal.
We walked past the old Amity house where several bridesmaids were getting hair and makeup done for the wedding. Then, we walked down the main trail to the other lake. There were several shelters next to the trail. I remember some of them had platform tents next to them. Then, we got to the old mill which is being refurbished.
I think what surprised me most about the Preserve is how close together everything is. I remember the walks between places being so long. Now, it was only a few minutes. Did the camp shrink or did my range get bigger?
I remember looking through those trees and thinking about possibilities and making up stories of adventures. Now that I’ve had a few adventures, I delight that the trees are still there, and I can still walk among them.