Bullskin Trace

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The Bullskin Trace was an ancient buffalo trail through Ohio to the salt licks in Kentucky. It began at the mouth of the Bullskin Creek at the Ohio River in SE Clermont County and went all the way to Detroit. It was used by animals, by the Indians, by soldiers, by frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, by settlers, by fugitive slaves escaping northward, and now it is part of the highway system.

The route begins at the flat valley of the Bullskin Creek where it empties into the Ohio River at the village of Rural, and continues north along what now is Route 133. It goes to Clarksville and north along the path of Route 380 to Xenia and the Shawnee town of Old Chillicothe, then north on Rt. 68 and other routes to reach Detroit.

On Feb. 4, 1807, part of the Trace became one of the first Ohio public highways. It was then named Xenia State Road. It was widened to 20 feet and had a right-of-way of about 60 feet. Marshy spots were covered with halved logs laid side-by-side. The state paid $700 for these improvements.

A covered bridge spanned Todd’s Fork on Lebanon Road where Route 380 met it on the way to Sligo. It was taken down in the early 1950s, and the road was re-routed.