Hoover Reservoir | Footsteps

In-Town Tourist: “Short Walk on a Long Pier” – Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk

In-Town Tourist: "Short Walk on a Long Pier" - Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk [0:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A 1500 foot pier is an unexpected find in landlocked Central Ohio. The Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk in Galena, Ohio lies on the northeast edge of Hoover Reservoir, a popular recreational site for boaters, birders and fishermen.

Depending on the time of day and if the fish are biting, you’ll stroll through the quiet conversations of fishermen intent on hooking a largemouth bass or channel catfish -or into virtual solitude, pressed only by rhythmic waves, gusting winds and the cheerful chirps and calls of a variety of shore birds.

Bald eagles, peregrine falcons and osprey are residents of the neighborhood and can be spotted with a steady eye on the sky. The water can be choppy and, although mud brown in color, pier’s end offers a view expansive enough to awaken oceanic dreams…

Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk (Galena, Ohio) Visitor Information and Map

1500 foot boardwalk across mudflats and reservoir waters.
Fishing and bird watching!

Directions: Travel northeast on S. Old 3C to downtown Galena, Ohio. Turn right on Front Street. Parking lot is on right.

View Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk in a larger map

Tags: 1 Adult/3 Children, Hiking, Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk (Galena), Hoover Reservoir, Ohio by Heather Dugan
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In-Town Tourist: “Canoeing Big Walnut Creek”

One of my favorite get-aways this summer is mere minutes from my house but miles removed from my daily life.

From the parking lot below the dam at Hoover Reservoir, it’s fifty yards portage to a hidden trail and then a moderate descent down to the waters of Big Walnut Creek. Once in the water, the only living beings I see beyond the canoe have either wings, gills or four legs. No voices… As the canoe slips down the river, my heart momentarily races before settling into the trickling rhythm of the current. The stillness of it all creeps in with slow assurance. I’m always surprised, first by its steady presence, and then by how very much I welcome it. Life can be so loud sometimes…

My “guide” is a steel artist from the Westerville area, who has traveled the route dozens of times over the past fifteen years or so. He points out the tall sycamores where the blue herons nest, as well as a magnificent house (circa 1850) that has grown, addition by addition, from its early days as a trading post.

We’ve watched deer spring away into steep slate ravines at the splash of one of our paddles while the canvas-back ducks simply ignore our passage. On this day, domestic and wild geese make steady progress against the current as a red-tailed hawk glides overhead. Someday, I’ll spot one of the area’s eagles that nest in Hoover Reservoir’s treetops.

Greened woodlands stretch away from us to either side and for a few minutes I can see the world this might have been hundreds of years ago. Random thoughts find space in these quiet moments; I wonder about following the creek down into the Scioto River, the Ohio, the Mississippi… until it eventually spills into the Atlantic. Which is another beginning in itself…