Best For:
Central Ohio residents who are looking for local nature walks, Individuals who seek a less demanding time in nature, readers who love personal hiking journals, & landscape artists looking for a new muse.
The Essence:
Read Time: ⏰ 4-5 minutes | Weight: 🪶 Light & Reflective | Mood: 🥾 Grounded & Curious|
Fanchion Lewis Park
Granville, Ohio
Trail Notes:
- Our Visit: Painting & Exploring around the small Pond on June 25th 2026 from just before 2:30 pm until right around 4 PM.
- Fanchion Lewis Park & Its History
- Sightings & Surprises on Trail
- Fungi & The Forest Floor
- Bones, Bugs & Missing Reptiles
- Art, Change & The Next Chapter
- Reflection on Fossils & Futures
The Places We Return to:
There is peace found in the places we continue returning. There is also mystery lurking in the places we think we already know. Fanchion Lewis Park is a loop that Luna (my dog) and I walk frequently, so frequently, in fact, that I almost expected today’s visit to be routine, maybe even a little boring.
If the woods taught us anything, it’s that routine is an illusion. Stepping onto the trail today, the woods were alive with summer heat, sudden storms brewing on the horizon, and small wonders hiding beneath fallen leaves. From startling toad encounters to deep reflections on life chapters closing, this walk proved once again that you only have to look a little closer to find the surreal waiting off the beaten path.
A Local Sanctuary – Fanchion Lewis Park & Its History:
Tucked away on the edge of Granville, Ohio, Fanchion Lewis Park serves as a vital green pocket along the Raccoon Creek corridor. The park was named in honor of Fanchion Lewis, a dedicated community advocate and champion for local nature preservation. The park offers a tranquil blend of shaded wooded loops, open green spaces, and riparian habitat along the water.
Historically, this area of Licking County formed part of the ancestral hunting and living grounds of the Hopewell and Shawnee peoples, rich with riverways, flint, and clay. Today, the park preserves a peaceful piece of Granville’s natural landscape, offering a sanctuary for local wildlife like Virginia opossums, white-tailed deer, green frogs, bullfrogs, and fish, while giving local wanderers a quiet haven to clear their minds, paint, or simply watch the water.
Sightings & Surprises on the Trail:
I walked into the park wearing sandals, fully expecting a chill, routine loop, but that assumption ended abruptly when a toad touched my sock. Before I even realized what it was, cue me screaming in the middle of the woods. Further down the trail, a white-tailed deer appeared out of nowhere, standing close enough that we shared a quiet, still second before she took off back into the brush.
Down by the water, we saw the same three huge fish that have been living in this pond since I first started coming here a few years ago. A while ago I tried to catch one with no luck, it felt like they had a sixth sense for what I was doing.
However, while we were sitting there watching them again, I realized they aren’t playing mind games; they’re just well-fed and living easy on a feast of tadpoles, dragonflies, and flies cruising the water’s edge.
Fungi & The Forest Floor:
The woods were exploding with fungi. I found a cluster of tiny little mushrooms scattered across moss. Nearby, I spotted a couple finger-like fungi similar to ones I have seen recently, alongside a “portal” with a single small mushroom standing guard.
Exploring further, I discovered a striking orange cap mushroom pushing its way up through a thick layer of dead leaves, and higher up the hill, a bright white cap mushroom was standing tall against the soil.
Bones, Bugs & Missing Reptiles:
Along the path, I came across an intriguing jawbone. Based on the tooth structure and size, it’s almost certainly from a Virginia opossum. I decided to keep the found jawbone for a future art project.
The dragonflies were everywhere today, and they’re absolutely gorgeous. I’d be lying however if I said they didn’t still give me a small spike of fear every time they dart near my face. One even landed right on my knee! I also finally spotted a big bullfrog sunning himself at the edge of the pond.
It made me think about how rarely I see snakes on my treks, even though I see plenty of frogs, toads, crawfish, shoreline holes, and the occasional salamander. The burrows and habitats were all right there, leaving me wondering where they all were hiding.
Art, Change & The Next Chapter:
I typically hate tree carvings because of the harm they cause to the tree’s health, but I came across one today that simply said “The End,” and it stopped me in my tracks.
It felt surreal. With our wedding coming up this fall, it felt like a fitting landmark for transitions.
At the time, I was sitting there smoking my second joint while Kelso relaxed with me, though they don’t smoke. We still make a great trail team. We planned to bring their easel, paints, and pencils out here more often so we can hang out side-by-side. Kelso could continue painting the scenery while I wrote, explored, and tracked the tiny changes in the ecosystem each visit.
Deep Time: A Reflection on Fossils & Futures:
Sitting near the water’s edge, my mind drifted toward the concept of deep time. Millions, maybe billions, of years from now, will someone like me be walking through a landscape that looks nothing like this one?
Will they be rockhounding, hunting for fossils, and trying to collect the mineralized remains of the very fish, plants, dragonflies, and trees I’m sitting here looking at alive today? Nature moves in endless, overlapping loops. The rocks beneath our feet hold the ancient life of yesterday, while the life buzzing around us today is slowly building the bedrock of tomorrow.
Summer Storms & Time Well Spent:
By 3:22 PM, thunder began rolling through the trees, signaling rain that the Weather Channel expected to start around 4:00 PM. We decided to risk staying a few extra minutes since Kelsey brought the less expensive, more portable easel for their painting setup.
Leaving Fanchion Lewis Park with a jawbone in hand, dragonfly encounters under my belt, and a fresh perspective on the seasons changing both in the forest and in my personal life, I’m reminded why we step outside in the first place.
You can walk the same loop a hundred times, but if you keep your eyes open, the woods will always find a way to surprise you.
Read More:
Robert’s Ridge & Valley. Infirmary Mound.
Google Maps – Fanchion Lewis Park.
AllTrails – Fanchion Lewis Park.
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