Lawrence Woods State Nature Preserve is located in Hardin County, and at 1,035 acres it is the largest woods having mature trees in the area. The nearest metropolitan area is Columbus, Ohio and for residents there it would take an hour to an hour-and-a-half to drive to Lawrence Woods. It's 4 miles from Kenton, Ohio, and the woods seems to be very popular with the local people. While I was visiting in late October I saw people of all ages strolling the boardwalk. The woods is adjacent to large meadows.
When
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Although we just launched our blog in March, it is customary to reflect back on the previous year as the new year approaches. So Deb and I decided to share some of the highlights from the past year as we explored Ohio's parks and nature preserves.
Best Hike of the Year
Deb: Christmas Rocks Nature Preserve — I loved the view from the cliff on the Jacob's Ladder trail.
Bob: Hocking Hills Winter Hike - the Hocking Hills region is great in any season, but it's spectacular in the winter. Read more ➜ 
This past September we visited Lake Vesuvius in Wayne National Forest. We followed the Lakeshore Trail counter-clockwise around the lake. This trail is supposed to be 8 miles long. The first mile had us traveling past a number of cliffs and outcroppings; if you were to just go a mile and then turn around, you'd have a very scenic hike of moderate difficulty. You'd even get to see the cliff and watery slump block pictured above.
The Lakeshore Trail
Once you go up the steps that lie 
Earlier we posted an Ohio Christmas Events Calendar, and last night Bob and I chose to go to one of the events being held in central Ohio: the Wildlights exhibit at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. A lot of zoos are now doing an annual holiday lights display, and if you can make it to one of these, they are a lot of fun for the whole family. Here's what the display looks like in Columbus.
The Galapagos turtle display is in the most special 
If you visit a number of parks and forests in Ohio, you will occasionally come across a structure built of sandstone blocks that resembles the bottom of a pyramid. A few of these are intact; many are just ruins overgrown with plants. These are the remnants of blast furnaces built in the early nineteenth century. But what are they doing out in the middle of the forest?
In the above photo the topmost, wooden building is the bridge loft. Workers in the bridge loft dropped raw materials through 
We've been using Global Positioning System (GPS) units for several years to get us to the trail-head for a day hike. A GPS system can be a real boon to finding your way to a new park or preserve, but it's important to understand its limitations. It's like having a friend in the car who's very knowledgeable about the local area, but who sometimes give you directions while he's drunk. For instance, once we were headed to a hotel that was about a half hour away in Marietta, Ohio. We plugged the hotel's 
December 1st was an unusually warm and sunny day for Ohio... shirt-sleeve weather really. We decided to take advantage of the sunny weather by visiting the 502-acre Marie J. Desonier State Nature Preserve in Athens County. The preserve is known for its hills and deep ravines.
The preserve's main trail is the Oak Ridge Trail. This is an irregular loop trail that starts near the kiosk at one end of the parking lot and returns at the other end of the parking lot. There's a short spur trail