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Trails
Narrative Direction: East from Western Piedmont Trailhead The western end of Bennett Ridge trail starts out with the Sopers Branch wetland on your right and Owl Ridge rising sharply on your left. (Note: Adjacent to the Bennett Ridge trail's western trailhead, you will also see evidence of the former western trailhead of Owl Ridge trail. But the Park Dept closed this end of the Owl Ridge trail and wants it to revegetate. So please do not use this end of the Owl Ridge trail.) After a couple of hundred yards, Sopers Branch comes clearly into view on your right. A tributary to Little Bennett Creek, Sopers Branch is the best protected and most pristine of all creeks in the Park. So its water quality is constantly monitored by County government officials and used as a standard against which water from other creeks in the county can be measured. On your left, notice the large rock outcropping that forms the side of the trail here. This is the largest rock outcropping found along all the trails in the Park. See the photo below.
It is dark through here, but ahead you can see a faint opening beginning to emerge at the end of the tunnel of canopy in front of you. When you reach this opening in the forest, you will see the first of several moundbuilder anthills on Bennett Ridge Trail. Ahead of you on the left, Owl Ridge Trail veers off to the summit of that ridge. There are some pines along the trail here but they are being out-competed for light by the maturing hardwoods. You next encounter several moundbuilder anthills as another forest clearing emerges, as shown in the photo below. Here the trail turns and begins to climb. You will soon be passing through a few sumac bushes. These bushes, which once were widely found in the Park area, look something like their taller NNI relatives (Tree of Heaven or Ailanthus).
The trail, which is mown here, is now climbing through the meadow shown below. As it twists through the meadow, the trail encounters a few young sycamore trees up here near the ridgeline. The sycamores stand far above the rest of the surrounding meadow which is in the early stages of reforestation.
Finally the trail opens up to an area where the meadow is mowed. This is one of the largest mown meadow areas in the Park interior so take a moment to enjoy the view here as shown in the photo below.
Ahead to the right, Woodcock Hollow Trail branches off to the south. It will rejoin Bennett Ridge Trail later. As Bennett Ridge Trail reenters the forest, notice that the trail surface switches to crushed limestone. The trail from this point on also serves as a utility road for Park vehicles that need to reach the Park interior. Notice the large pile of logs on your right here. These were downed trees found along Park trails that have been cleared. The logs will be split and sold as firewood to campers. The rest of Bennett Ridge Trail will pass through mature hardwood forest with good canopy and generally clear or healthy understory. Many 80-100 foot oak and hickory hardwoods tower overhead as you pass through one of the nicest forests in the Park, as shown in the photo below.
Soon Moundbuilder Trail will veer off on your left. On your right you will see orienteering course post #8. There are some very nice patches of moss along the trail on your left here. Bennett Ridge Trail will continue its gradual uphill climb through pretty, clean, mature hardwood forest for the next several hundred yards. Notice the healthy hardwood understory that will one day replenish the supply of tall trees now dominating this forest. Over the next few hundred yards three trailheads will emerge along Bennett Ridge Trail. First the eastern trailhead of Woodcock Hollow will arise on your right. A couple of hundred yards after this, Beaver Valley Trail begins its way down the northern side of the ridge on your left. And then Antler Ridge Trail breaks off to your right down the other side of the ridge. After the Antler Ridge trailhead, Bennett Ridge Trail appears to divide ahead of you. The lesser used trail to your right is not found on the Park's trail map but it leads back to a large meadow at the edge of the campground. So to stay on Bennett Ridge Trail, keep to your left here. You will come to the end of the trail 200 yards ahead at Loop E in the campground.
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