Our recent visit to Sears Woods featured large trees and a close-encounter with galloping deer.
Sears Woods is a 137 acre state nature preserve in Crawford County. It is managed by the Crawford County Park District. The Sandusky River flows through the preserve which features an old-growth beech and maple woodland. There are two trails: the 1.25-mile Hiking Trail that loops through the woods, and a smaller, mown-path through a meadow that's known as the Bluebird Box Trail.
At Read more ➜ Sears Woods
Our recent visit to Sears Woods featured large trees and a close-encounter with galloping deer.
Sears Woods is a 137 acre state nature preserve in Crawford County. It is managed by the Crawford County Park District. The Sandusky River flows through the preserve which features an old-growth beech and maple woodland. There are two trails: the 1.25-mile Hiking Trail that loops through the woods, and a smaller, mown-path through a meadow that's known as the Bluebird Box Trail.
At Read more ➜ 
This past weekend we decided to hike the 7.2-mile Day Hike Trail in Shawnee State Forest. The Shawnee State Forest is sometimes referred to as the "The Little Smokies of Ohio" because of its hilly terrain. Although much of the trail followed ridgelines along the top of hills, there was a lot of uphill/downhill hiking to get to those ridgelines.
The trailhead for the Day Hike Trail is just off SR-125 on the opposite side of the road from the Nature Center in Shawnee State Park.
There 
Lowe-Volk Park is a 38-acre county park located in Crawford County. The Sandusky River flows through the northern edge of the park. The park features a nature center, two miles of hiking trails, and a fishing pond.
The nature center contains many exhibits, classrooms, restrooms, and a nature viewing area for bird watchers. The staff also put on special events and educational programs.
In front of the nature center was a small garden planted with wildflowers.
We 
Headlands Dunes is a 25-acre preserve just to the east of Headlands Beach State Park. When I'm here I can hardly believe that I'm in Ohio... it's such a unique place. The sand dunes just off shore of Lake Erie are rare in Ohio because most of the area adjacent to the lake has been developed. Surprisingly a number of plants that originated on the Atlantic coast grow in this small nature preserve. It is thought that they reached this far into the continent thousands of years ago when the immense weight 
We visited Boch Hollow Nature Preserve again last week. The weather was just about perfect. Here's a few pictures from our hike.
This opossum was slowly wondering up a dry stream bed when he decided to stop and pose for a picture.
Additional information
TrekOhio: Hocking County Parks & Preserves — This is the county where Boch Hollow is located; check out this page for links to the official site and for information 
We've been going to Tar Hollow for many years. Its a great place for camping. The camp sites are usually not crowded (don't tell anybody), the area is very scenic, and there are many miles of hiking trails.
Tar Hollow State Park is a 604 acre park in Ross County. It is surrounded by the 16,354 acre Tar Hollow State Forest located in Ross, Hocking, and Vinton Counties. Traversing the park and state forest is the 21 mile red-blazed Logan Backpack Trail. Built and maintained by the Boy 
The same day we visited Clifton Gorge, we drove 40 minutes south to Spring Valley Wildlife Area. It was a gorgeous sunny, but cool day. A perfect day for a walk around the lake and marsh at Spring Valley.
Spring Valley is an 842 acre state wildlife area on the border of Greene and Warren counties. It features an archery range, as well as shotgun, rifle and pistol ranges. It also includes a 150 acre lake and marsh with a 2.5 mile trail around it, and an extensive boardwalk leading 
Looking for a local Ohio hike longer than a day-hike but shorter than hiking the Appalachian Trail? There are several sites where you can go backpacking in Ohio, ranging from overnight trips to trips of several days.
Northeast Ohio
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
This is the only national park in Ohio. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park features a 19-mile hiking trail along a former Erie Canal towpath. Camping facilities are available for backpackers along the trail. The park service 
Bob and I visited Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in early April. Since the foliage isn't out yet, visitors can get a clearer view of the Little Miami River than would be available in summer, plus the river is swollen from all of the spring showers.
The bare branches that are extending over the falls in the above photo will block part of the view after the leaves have emerged.
After observing the falls from above, we moved upstream and looked back at it.
Then we started 
Liberty Park is a 1,908 acre park in Summit County. It features three trails totaling 3.3 miles, several sports fields, a half-acre dog park, and rest rooms. Summit Metro Parks plans to add a nature center in the future.
We'd planned a nice early spring hike in Summit County for the last Sunday in March, but Mother Nature had other plans. We'd driven to Summit County the prior day encountering rain most of the way. Overnight the rain changed to hail and then snow. We awoke to a cold,