We recently visited Robinson Falls (aka "Corkscrew Falls") at Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve. The waterfall is located off-trail at the preserve, so we obtained a free permit from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to visit the falls. Along with the permit, they sent us a map showing the falls, where to park, directions, and preserve rules.
The ODNR-provided map directed us to a small pull-off from the road that holds a couple of cars. We located the trail-head across the Read more ➜ Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve: Robinson Falls
We recently visited Robinson Falls (aka "Corkscrew Falls") at Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve. The waterfall is located off-trail at the preserve, so we obtained a free permit from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to visit the falls. Along with the permit, they sent us a map showing the falls, where to park, directions, and preserve rules.
The ODNR-provided map directed us to a small pull-off from the road that holds a couple of cars. We located the trail-head across the Read more ➜ 
Last summer we visited two of Ohio's smallest state nature preserves: Bigelow Cemetery and Smith Cemetery. Within these two preserves are remnants of prairie that once extended over 5% of Ohio. Because both sites were 19th century cemeteries, they were undisturbed by the plowing that converted 99% of this rich, prairie soil into Ohio farmland. Today I will discuss the half-acre Bigelow Cemetery State Nature Preserve, and I'll save the nearby Smith Cemetery State Nature Preserve for a later post. 
The TrekOhio Challenge is over. Notifications have been sent to the winners. Thanks to all who participated!
We'd like to invite our readers to participate in the TrekOhio challenge. The challenge is to complete FIVE hikes during summer (June 21 - Sept 21) 2016 from the ANY of the parks and preserves listed below. The hikes are arranged by Ohio region for your convenience, but feel free to mix and match any five. We've provided links to TrekOhio articles to get more information about the hike. 
Update: 02/12/019: Note that the following article was published in the summer of 2016 and describes our experiences when visiting Mt. Gilead State Park. The dams have been repaired and other renovations have occurred since then. A 2014 new release by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources itemizes the planned renovations. It is my understanding that all these renovations have since been completed.
Mount Gilead is a 191 acre state park in central Ohio which offers some nice hiking trails as well 
On our recent trip to northwest Ohio, we visited the National Center for Nature Photography. The center is located in Secor Metropark near Toledo. The center features exhibits of the works of nature photographers and occasionally offers classes on nature photography. The center is a small building in the middle of the metropark. It generally shows the works of one artist with the exhibit changing every few months. Admission is free and open to the public.
The current exhibit 
One feature we often include with our articles is a map of our hike. Originally we used a handheld Magellan Explorist 310 to do the job of mapping our hike. But as we acquired more capable smart phones, we'd switched over to Google's MyTracks application for Android phones. This app had a bit of a learning curve and some idiosyncrasies, but we became accustomed to it and it became our goto application for mapping. We used it for finding our way on the trail (or back to our car) and afterwards to 
A few weeks ago on a warm winter weekend, we visited Dundee Falls. The waterfall is located in the Beach City Wildlife Area near the town of Dundee, OH. We parked in a dirt and gravel parking area off of Dundee Wilmot Road. An unmarked path at one end of the parking lot led to a stream valley. We turned right and continued down the path a short ways till we heard the sound of falling water.
The path leads to the top of the falls. On the right side of the falls (same side as the parking area) a 
We attended the 40th Annual Malabar Farm Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday March 5th. From the parking area participants queued for a ride by horse drawn wagon to the festival which was centered around the Malabar Farm sugar shack. There were a variety of wagons available for transporting visitors, some with benches and others with hay bales for seating. The wagons were 2HP - each being drawn by two large draft horses. The horses and wagons were provided by volunteers from the Central Ohio Draft Horse 
Paine Falls Park is a 377 acre Lake County Metro Park located in Painesville, OH. We visited the park last September.
From the parking area a one tenth mile trail descends a couple of flights of stairs to a viewing area for the waterfall. The park features a restroom and a picnic shelter.
Additional information
Lake County Parks & Preserves — This is the location of Paine Falls; check out this page for links to the official site and for information 
Towards the end of last spring we visited the Wilderness Trail at the Edge of Appalachia Preserve in Adams County. Starting at the parking area, the trail is a 2.4 mile loop. The trail features hills, rock outcroppings, streams, forest with lush vegetation, and a small segment of prairie.
Getting Oriented
We hiked the trail in a counter-clockwise direction, passing through the prairie opening towards the end.
The Hike
The parking lot is at the end of Shivener Rd, a gravel