Hoover Scenic Trail, Plumb Road to Wiese Road

Tips for birding Wiese Road
Wiese Road is accessed from Old 3C Highway just west of the Village of Galena. Park at the barrels and walk along the old roadway. In the spring the road will yield warblers, orioles, wrens, kinglets, flycatchers and other species. Watch the water for waterfowl, terns, herons, egrets, and cormorants in the spring and early fall. Prothonotary Warblers nest along the road. Bald Eagles have become regular visitors to this area and can often be seen perched in the large trees along the shoreline. In late fall as the reservoir recedes large mudflats are exposed. These mudflats are at times one of the better shorebird areas in central Ohio.

This area is excellent for shorebirds from late July through November if the water level is down. When the water level is down this area becomes almost entirely mud flats. Almost all migrating species of plover and sandpiper can be found. American Avocets are present most years as are Dunlins, dowitchers, phalaropes, Wilson’s Snipe, Red Knot, and others. Rarities recorded include Sandhill Crane and both godwits.
From Charles Bombaci

About Hoover Scenic Trail
The .6-mile Hoover Scenic Trail extends from Plumb Road to Weise Road south of the village of Galena. The trail crosses Old 3C Highway via a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, and runs along the shore of Hoover Reservoir, through the Hoover Nature Preserve (owned by the City of Columbus).

There is a five-car parking area at the trail entrance along Plumb Road. The Hoover Scenic Trail connects on the south to the Genoa Trail, a 4-mile segment of the Ohio to Erie Trail that traverses a corner of Char-Mar Ridge Preserve and connects to a network of multi-use trails in Westerville.

As walkers and bicyclist travel the trail, they might spot any of the following: white-tailed deer, eastern cottontail rabbit, eastern chipmunk, eastern gray squirrel, fox squirrel, red squirrel, woodchuck, American beaver, muskrat, coyote, red fox, raccoon, and striped skunk.

Birds that have been observed along the trail in the Hoover Nature Preserve area number more than 220 species, including prothonotary warblers; a large percentage of Ohio’s prothonotary warbler population breeds at the northern end of Hoover Reservoir. Other birds of special interest to be seen from the bike trail as it follows the shore of Hoover Reservoir are bald eagle, osprey and cliff swallows.

From late July through early November the water level at Hoover Reservoir usually recedes exposing vast mudflats which attract migrating shorebirds, including American avocet and marbled godwit.

Through the forested areas, one can encounter wild turkey, black-billed cuckoo, yellow-billed cuckoo, Eastern screech-owl, great horned owl, barred owl, red-headed woodpecker, and numerous migrating warblers. This section of the trail was opened to the public in 2010.
From Hoover Scenic Trail webpage

About Hoover Nature Preserve
Access Areas with trails — Mud Hen Marsh, Ox Bow Road, Hoover Meadows, Dustin Road, Areas L, M, and N, Clover Field
+ over 925 acres
+ vital migratory stopover for over 33 different species of shorebirds
+ largest breeding population of state special concern Prothonotary Warblers in Ohio
+ 1,500-foot boardwalk at Area M
+ observation blind at Mud Hen Marsh
+ Bald Eagles frequently observed throughout the year

Restrooms at locations identified on Hoover Reservoir map.