Twin Valley Trail: Backpacking Route

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Commonly Backpacked · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

This route offers a fairly diverse amount of viewpoints. It is great for new equipment shakedowns. Get the trail map from Five Rivers Metroparks website or from the nature center at Germantown Metropark, as it is very detailed and has twelve natural or historical points of interest.

Bring tennis shoes for connecting path along paved multipurpose paths and public roads! There are only three overnight parking locations: 9688 Eby Road (Twin Creek Metropark), Spillway Parking Lot (Germantown Metropark), and 6206 Boomershine Road (Germantown Metropark). There are also only three overnight campsites as well, no fires, and you need a reservation permit for each campsite on each night. These can be obtained for a small fee through the Five Rivers Metroparks website. Follow the signs with the backpacker on it; these signs can be hard to find at times on the connecting trail because they can be painted on the ground or placed in inconspicuous locations.

From the spillway overnight parking lot, you can either head north into Germantown Metropark or south past the town of Germantown and into Twin Creek Metropark. Heading south, will take you along the connecting trail between the two parks, past one of three overnight camps, and along Twin Creek. A large portion of the connecting trail is paved multipurpose pathway and public roads.

Eventually, you'll pass nearby Germantown and a gravel processing plant which will then pass by a horse ranch and into Twin Creek Metropark. Once inside the park, the Twin Valley Trail will follow the perimeter trails of the park. Continuing south, you'll cross Chamberlain Rd which will take you to the southernmost point of the trail and Twin Creek Metropark, where there is also another overnight campsite on this most southern loop (northeasterly on the Purple Trail).

Returning north, continue following the direction you took (clockwise, counter clockwise) through Twin Creek Metropark and back to the connection trail previously mentioned to enter Germantown Metropark. Once inside the park, this will be another loop and your most northern point of the hike. The third overnight campsite is located off the Yellow Trail on a small westerly traveling connecting path.

Twin Creek is one of Ohio's healthiest waterways in terms of plant and animal diversity and populations. Germantown is a quaint village with some casual dining and a couple of boutique shops.