Lower Howard's Creek Nature Preserve

I must write a review of the area and the beginning of the trail to alert future hikers that it is temporarily closed due to abuse, vandalism/garbage. People were loud and using the creek as a pool, spray painting and damaging the trail/trashing the area. So, if you are headed down to hike on the John Holder Trail, as we were, you will find it closed. The area itself is lovely. Hall's on the River is great (and open during Covid), you can still canoe on the river, and the fort is close by and well worth a visit.

It was too beautiful of a day in February to not try to get in a hike. Decided to head out on the John Holder Trail. The trails were pretty muddy after the snow melt but it was worth it. I would rate it a moderately easy there and back trail but with some beautiful views of the Lower Howard River. Total round trip is just under 3 miles. There is a point that you do cross the river so make sure you have either waterproof hiking boots or the river is low enough to get across. Please don't try to cross if it is deep or flowing fast. Nobody wants to get hurt or wet. There are some elevation changes and several historical sites. For this hike there was a lot of pretty ice hanging off the cliffs. There is a waterfall but that's off property so you shouldn't hike there.And after a day of hiking you can get soon food at Halls On The River and enjoy the scenery from there. As for parking, I usually park across the street from Halls but there is parking behind Halls too.

Great place to visit for beginners and people with children. There's a very small amount of climbing and there are small bridges over drains at the beginning of the trail. It's not a super long trail or really tough, but you get to see wild flowers and just good clean nature close up. It's a nice place to relax and listen to the creek. There's a section of the trail that you are supposed to schedule a guide to take you on, but I didn't do that so I can't say anything about that, but I will definitely be back and I might even schedule that tour next time.