We returned to Lake Katharine Nature Preserve in mid-May to walk the 2.5 mile Pine Ridge Trail. Among the attractions of Pine Ridge Trail are Lake Katharine itself, Rock Run creek, a cascading waterfall, large rock outcroppings and cliffs, a hemlock grove, and magnolia trees.
The trail-head starts in the parking lot and leads east to the intersection of the Pine Ridge and Calico Bush trails. From there it intersects a service road that descends down to the earthen dam at one end of Read more ➜ Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve: Pine Ridge Trail
We returned to Lake Katharine Nature Preserve in mid-May to walk the 2.5 mile Pine Ridge Trail. Among the attractions of Pine Ridge Trail are Lake Katharine itself, Rock Run creek, a cascading waterfall, large rock outcroppings and cliffs, a hemlock grove, and magnolia trees.
The trail-head starts in the parking lot and leads east to the intersection of the Pine Ridge and Calico Bush trails. From there it intersects a service road that descends down to the earthen dam at one end of Read more ➜ 
There are three trails at Lake Katharine. When we visited mid-April we hiked Salt Creek Trial and then Calico Bush Trail, but we didn't have time for the Pine Ridge Trail. The preserve struck us as being very scenic, and many spring flowers were in bloom during our visit. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) lists Lake Katharine as being one of the eight best preserves in the state for viewing spring wildflowers. The terrain is also interesting; it features many sandstone cliffs and outcroppings. 
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve as being one of the nine state nature preserves in Ohio that are among the best for seeing spring wildflowers. Having never been to this nature preserve in Jackson County, we decided to see what was blooming there in mid-April.
The Petroglyphs
The Leo Petroglyph State Memorial is a site with about 37 petroglyphs (line drawings carved in stone). The petroglyphs were made on an outcropping of bedrock consisting of Black Hand sandstone. Based on the weathering of the exposed sandstone, it is believed that the carvings are about 700 years old. That age would make them the handiwork of the Fort Ancient Indians, a late prehistoric culture that was active in Ohio from about 1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.
I wasn't sure exactly what 
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