Alum Creek SP--Kilbourne Boat Launch

Alum Creek SP--Kilbourne Boat Launch

Delaware, Ohio 43015

Alum Creek State Park Official Website
Alum Creek State Park map

About this Location

The Kilbourne Boat Launch in Alum Creek State Park gets a lot of canoe and kayak traffic on summer weekends. There are two good places to bird here.

One is around the boat launch, which offers a good view of the creek and the opposite shore, and often has riparian birds and swallows. North is the OH-521 bridge which blocks travel in that direction. There is a small footpath leading south from the launch area that gives a little more shore access, but peters out after about 100 yards.

The more interesting alternative is the bridle trail that starts back by the restrooms east of the parking area. It heads south along the base of the bluffs, between the upland forest on the bluffs and the riparian forest along the creek. It skirts an old inlet oxbow and climbs to an overgrown old railroad grade in about 0.2 mile; the old bridge abutment offers a great view of the creek and a good perch to listen for singing birds along this stretch. In summer, listen for flycatchers, Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, and Northern Parula Warblers.

About Alum Creek State Park

See all hotspots at Alum Creek State Park

Alum Creek rests in the midst of the fertile agricultural till plains and river valleys of Delaware County. In contrast to the surrounding farmlands, the park offers a diverse array of natural features. Cliffs of Ohio shale are notable in many areas, exposed as Alum Creek and other streams cut through underlying bedrock. The shale was formed as mud washed into the ancient sea which covered the area several hundred million years ago. The dark hue of the rock is due to the mixture of a carbonized plant material and mud that formed the shale.

The rich soils of Delaware County gave rise to a luxuriant beech-maple forest after the retreat of the glaciers about 12,000 years ago. That original forest has long since been cut but a healthy second-growth forest is preserved in the park. The woodlands harbor a variety of plant species and offer the interested observer beautiful displays of wildflowers and wildlife. Large-flowered trillium, wild geranium, bloodroot, and spring beauties carpet the forest floor. The forest is home to fox squirrel, woodchuck, rabbit, white-tail deer, and many other species of wildlife.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

Content from Alum Creek State Park Official Website, Rob Thorn, and Ohio Ornithological Society