Trail Location: This 1.5 mile trail connects the City of Cincinnati’s Caldwell Park and Seymour Preserve together. You can get on the trail starting at the end of the Caldwell Park parking lot, located off of North Bend Road. The trail follows the east side of Mill Creek until the Seymour Avenue bridge where it switches to the west side of the river. Follow the trail to Este Avenue and climb the bike staircase. Cross Este Avenue and get on the Seymour Creek spur trail to Seymour Preserve. Retrace your route back to Caldwell Park. Alternatively, if you want a shorter walk to see the streamside trees, there is limited automobile parking available along Seymour Avenue, east of Este Avenue.

Streamside Tree Markers Location:  The trees below are found directly behind metal numbers located on the fence of the segment of the Mill Creek Greenway Trail running south from the intersection of Este and Seymour Avenues (close to the Seymour Avenue bridge and at the terminus of Metro Bus #47 from downtown).

Mill Creek Riparian Trees: Only one specimen of each tree species is identified, although several individuals of each species occur along the pathway. If you print out this guide and carry it with you during your next hike on the Mill Creek Greenway Trail, you will learn the identity of a dozen streamside (“riparian”) tree species that are common in the Mill Creek Valley.

  1. SILVER MAPLE  Acer saccharinum. This maple has leaves with silver undersides. The seeds occur in pairs, each with an inch-long wing that provides dispersal through the air. The silver maple reaches a height of 80 feet. Its wood is used for lumber, furniture, and paper pulp.

  2. BLACK WALNUT Juglans nigra. This commercially valuable lumber and nut tree is named after its round, 2-inch fruit, a delicious dark nut enclosed in a thick green husk. Native Americans and pioneers made a brown dye from the husk. The black walnut grows to 100 feet tall.

  3. AMERICAN ELM Ulmus Americana. This tree’s oval, half-inch fruit consists of a papery wing surrounding a flat seed. The tree grows to 120 feet tall. Its wood is used for furniture, flooring, and hockey sticks. The accidentally introduced Dutch elm disease has destroyed many American elms.

  4. HACKBERRY Celtis occidentalis. The bark is very rough and covered with warts. The sweet, purplish, pea-sized, late-ripening fruit of this “sugarberry” tree provides winter food for birds and mammals. The hackberry grows to 40 feet tall. Its wood is occasionally used to make furniture.

  5. SYCAMORE Platanus occidentalis.  Note the peeling white and brown patches of bark, and the round, 1-inch diameter fruits that hang on the tree through the winter. The sycamore reaches a height of 100 feet. Its wood is used for furniture and butcher blocks. A group of large sycamores is located along the stream bank to your right.

  6. OSAGE ORANGE Maclura pomifera. This species was imported to Ohio from the southern United States during the early 19th century. Hedges of thorny, young trees were planted in places where farmers would otherwise have to construct wooden fences. The tree’s seeds, contained in fruits known as hedge apples, escaped the farms to grow alongside streams. The osage orange attains a height of 50 feet.

  7. BLACK CHERRY Prunus serotina. This tree’s clusters of pea-sized black cherries are edible, although slightly bitter. An extract from its bark was developed by Native Americans as a cough remedy, and is still used today. The black cherry grows to 60 feet tall. Its strong, heavy wood is used to make furniture.

  8. HONEYLOCUST Gleditsia triacanthos. This is the only native tree that has thorns growing from thorns. Its leathery pods, about a foot in length, contain 12 to 14 seeds. The honeylocust grows to 80 feet tall. Its hard, strong wood is used for railroad ties, fence posts, and general construction.

  9. BLACK WILLOW Salix nigra. This tree is the largest North American species of willow, reaching a height of 40 feet. Its fruit is a tiny capsule holding many minute seeds. The tree’s light, flexible wood is used to make wicker furniture, baskets, and packing cases.

  0. BOX ELDER Acer negundo. A tree with separate sexes. The 2-winged, 1.5-inch long, V-shaped fruits hang on the female tree over the winter. The box elder reaches a height of 75 feet. The tree is pulped to make paper and is a source of wood for fiberboard.

  1. BLACK LOCUST Robinia pseudoacacia.  This tree, in the same family as beans and peas, produces a 2- to 4-inch-long pod that splits open to release 4 to 8 seeds. The black locust grows to 80 feet tall. Its durable wood is used for fence posts and railroad ties.

  2. COTTONWOOD Populus deltoids. This tree is named after the cottony structures on its seeds that allow them to float long distances before settling down. The cottonwood attains a height of 100 feet. Its coarse, strong wood is used for pallets and shipping crates. On your return along the path, note the large cottonwoods growing on the bank of the Mill Creek.

Acknowledgment:  Many thanks to Dr. Stanley Hedeen, ecologist and member of the Mill Creek Restoration Project Board of Trustees, who prepared this tree guide.