History and Lore
Moonville was a coal-mining town founded in the middle of the nineteenth century in Vinton County. Its population peaked in 1870 when about 100 people lived there, after which it declined. The last family in Moonville left in 1947. Moonville's nearest neighbor was the town of Hope, but even Hope was many miles away. To connect the two towns a railroad was laid. During the course of its construction, it was also necessary to build bridges over creeks and to excavate Moonville Tunnel Read more ➜ Zaleski State Forest: Moonville Tunnel
History and Lore
Moonville was a coal-mining town founded in the middle of the nineteenth century in Vinton County. Its population peaked in 1870 when about 100 people lived there, after which it declined. The last family in Moonville left in 1947. Moonville's nearest neighbor was the town of Hope, but even Hope was many miles away. To connect the two towns a railroad was laid. During the course of its construction, it was also necessary to build bridges over creeks and to excavate Moonville Tunnel Read more ➜ 
Bob and I had really wanted to explore the Rockhouse Trail, so we could view Turtlehead Cave. This past September we decided to make that happen by combining this trail with several others to come up with a loop hike that was about 5 miles in length. Our hike took us through a variety of different parks and preserves in quick succession. We began in Sells Park and passed through the Dale and Jackie Riddle State Nature Preserve, as well as the City of Athens Preserve Land until we came to Strouds 
It's the end of an interesting year of exploring Ohio's parks and preserves. So it's time once agains for the 2016 edition of TrekOhio Highlights. When the two of us have different selections for a category, we will list both choices.
Favorite Photo
Deb: My favorite photo was from Mohican State Park in Winter. Like a lot of other people, I sometimes find it difficult to leave the cozy warmth of home in the winter time, but once I get outside, sites like this make it all worthwhile.
Bob: 
We enjoy staying at Lake Hope State Park, and we are always looking for new places to hike in the vicinity. Since the state park is adjacent to Zaleski State Forest, we sometimes take advantage of one of the backpacking trails at Zaleski. During this trip we decided to do a day hike from the trailhead that begins to the rear of Hope Schoolhouse. Our plan is to hike from point "A" on the trail map to the campsite at point "C". The one-way distance from "A" to "C" is a little under 3 miles, so by retracing 
Blue Heron Reserve is a 160-acre park in the Sandusky County Park District. It has 2.9 miles of trail including a handicap-accessible boardwalk that makes up 5000 feet of the trail system. Within the park is a fen; this is a type of wetlands in which underground water bubbles up through calciferous rock until it reaches the surface. The wooded area of the park has a habitat reminiscent of the Great Black Swamp. The area also includes a pond and meadows. The many different kinds of habitats 
This forest also goes by the names "Vinton Furnace State Forest" and "Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest". I decided to keep the word "Experimental" in the name for this article because it communicates that the forest has a research-oriented purpose. This research has been going on for over 50 years. The data collected here has been useful in gaining a better understanding of forest ecology, forest management, and the regional wildlife; this data has been cited in hundreds of scholarly papers. An 
A.W. Marion State Park is a 309-acre park in Pickaway County that I described after a previous hike in the spring (see here for description and photos). On October 29th we returned to the park to hike the Hargus Lake Perimeter Trail. We thought that peak fall color had probably passed, but when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised at how colorful the park was. As it turns out there are many maple trees in the park, and many of these were a brilliant red.
We made a GPS trace of our hike. 
Fort Hill is one of our favorite places to hike. It is a preserve in Highland County that we've discussed previously. Besides enjoying the fall foliage there in late October, we also visited nearby Seip Mound and an Amish bakery, too.
Fort Hill
Fort Hill has 11 miles of trails through forested hills. It features ancient Native American earthworks, a gorge valley, dramatic cliffs. and several natural arches. The Buckeye Trail winds through the site then continues into Pike State Forest. 
The Morgan Sisters Trail System is in the northern, central region of the Ironton Unit of Wayne National Forest. It is a little over an hour's drive northeast of Portsmouth, Ohio. It is comprised of three loop trails. According to the Forest Service, the Coal Branch Loop is 2.34 miles, the Ridge Loop is 1.88 miles, and the Schoolhouse Loop is 4.53 miles. There is a half-mile trail that connects the Morgan Sisters Trail System to the nearby Symmes Creek Trail System.
We went there for an afternoon's 
Ariel-Foundation Park is a 250 acre park owned by the City of Mount Vernon in Ohio. It is operated by the Foundation Park Conservancy. The park is located on a former industrial site that housed the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now PPG).
History and Overview
The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company opened in 1907 and manufactured plate glass for automotive windshields. The plant was a sprawling complex of brick and steel girder buildings totaling 1,000,000 square ft. A number of gravel