Hiking in John Bryan State Park

Today we took advantage of the decent weather and went hiking at John Bryan State Park, about an hour's drive north of home. We headed first to the nearby artsy town of Yellow Springs to find some lunch. The park is centered on the Little Miami Gorge, and is a beautiful place to hike at any time of year. The park takes its name from an ambitious businessman who was responsible for the preservation of much of the area as a state preserve. In 1896, Bryan purchased 335 acres along the gorge and called these acres, "Riverside Farm".
He had a great respect for the natural world and in 1918, bequeathed Riverside Farm to the state of Ohio, "...to be cultivated by the state as a forestry, botanic and wildlife reserve park and experiment station," which would bear his name. In May of 1925, John Bryan's land became one of the state's first forest parks. Moss was growing profusely everywhere - on fallen logs as in the picture, on stones by the stream beds and on the huge slump blocks which you find at intervals. If you're interested you can see more of my pictures from the day here.