Discovering Yellow Springs

Ohio is fortunate to have several excellent rails-to trails bike paths, each with some historic station or building to remind us of its connection with the past.



Yellow Springs, Ohio has one of the loveliest yet, nestled in among the shops of this quaint college town. And although there has been some changes at the college, the town still holds its school-town charm. It is worthy of several visits.

Not far from the down town is Glen Helen, a nature preserve which holds the secret to the town's unusual name. The water bursts forth from the rock, which has an odd coloration... could it be- yellow?

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Traveling through the lime rich strata, the water collect minerals. These minerals gather into a substance laid down on the rock: travertine. The material is usually cream colored, but the high concentrations of iron present as yellowish-orange rock formations.

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Travertine tinged yellow.

These springs, once popular heath spas, were considered curative- like Hot Springs Arkansas- without the "hot."

Winter leaves of Hepatica, Hepatica nobilis

And although Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus was the only flower we found in bloom, the purplish winter leaves of the Hepatica, tease us with a "spring" breaking forth with bird song and buds. And not a moment too soon for me.