Daytrip Cincinnati

[elmer79]

Took this drive today. The fall colors were starting to show and it was really nice.

We adapted the routing a little bit. We didn't really want to go as far south as Route 32. Guess we may have missed a little that way. Instead we took Route 28 East to Shiloh Road (just after the point where Route 132 forks to the left). Turned right on Shiloh (L2 and then L3) and followed it till it ended at Route 727. Took a left on 727 (L2) and took the next right on Pringle (about half a mile down). There is an orchard here and we bought some apples from them.

Continued on Pringle (which is an L3 or maybe an L4) to Newtonsville Road. Turned right on Newtonsville (L2 or L3) and followed it into the village of the same name, where we picked up Route 131. Took 131 (L2) East across Routes 133, 50, 68, and 134. Route 131 ends at Route 138. We took a left there (L2), then took the next right onto Danville Road. About a half mile down Danville (L2), there is a yield sign ("except right turns") at an intersection with Caleb Hill Road. Took the slight left onto Caleb Hill. This was a really nice (L3) road which kind of reminded me of western Virginia and my wife of New England.

Caleb Hill eventually ends at New Market Road. There is not a sign for New Market Road, but if you turn left on New Market (L2), you end up in a village of the same name about a mile or two later. It is at the intersection of Route 62 and there is a gas station there. We crossed 62 and stayed on New Market. A few miles later, after crossing Route 247, New Market renames to Prospect Road. Stayed on this (still L2).

When we got to Route 73 we had a choice. We could have turned right and gone to Belfast and picked up the directions at Koss Road about a quarter of the way down page 2. Instead we stayed on Prospect Road, which is marked as Amish country. Prospect Road eventually ends on Route 124, which we followed (East, L2) to Sinking Spring, Ohio. We picked up the directions there (near the bottom of page 2).

When we got to Bainbridge, we learned that there is a fall festival there on the third weekend of October. We may go back there in some future year.

We had a hard time finding Auerville Road (near the top of page 3). We never saw the signs pointing to Pike Lake and were still looking for those when we found ourselves back at Laperrell Road. Took this back to Route 124. Turned left on 124, and eventually found a turn labeled Morgan's Fork Road, and was able to find Pike Lake that way. Pike Lake was quiet but the leaves on the hills around the lake were multicolored and made it look really nice!

We ended up getting to the caves after they had closed so don't have a any comments there. We thought Paint Creek was somewhat of a letdown compared to Pike Lake. Although the lake is bigger, the surrounding area was a good bit more flat. There was also nobody there.

All in all, a nice trip, especially for this time of year. Next time I might try exploring south from Pike Lake, or perhaps heading further east to Chillicothe.