We visited John and Marion Becker Cedar Falls Preserve in the late summer of 2020 and early spring of 2021. This Adams County preserve is owned by the Edge of Appalachia and was opened recently. The star attraction of the preserve is a fifteen foot waterfall named Cedar Falls - not to be confused with the other Cedar Falls located in Hocking County.
When visiting Scioto and Adams County, we frequently stay at Shawnee Lodge in Shawnee State Park. The trailhead for the preserve is a half-hour drive Read more ➜ John and Marion Becker Cedar Falls Preserve
We visited John and Marion Becker Cedar Falls Preserve in the late summer of 2020 and early spring of 2021. This Adams County preserve is owned by the Edge of Appalachia and was opened recently. The star attraction of the preserve is a fifteen foot waterfall named Cedar Falls - not to be confused with the other Cedar Falls located in Hocking County.
When visiting Scioto and Adams County, we frequently stay at Shawnee Lodge in Shawnee State Park. The trailhead for the preserve is a half-hour drive Read more ➜ 
A couple of weeks ago we spent several days at a cabin at Lake Hope. Lake Hope is one of our favorite parks in Ohio. One of the reasons is the great hiking at Lake Hope, the adjacent Zaleski State forest, and many nearby parks and preserves. The other reason is the wonderful Lake Hope Dining Lodge which specializes in slow-cooked barbecued meat and wood-fired pizza.
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, some changes were in effect.
Hiking trails are open at both Lake Hope and 
The North Bend Rail Trail is a 72 mile long rail trail conveniently located adjacent to West Virginia's North Bend State Park. The trail is composed of hard-packed dirt and gravel and is a multi-use trail for cyclists, hikers, and riders on horseback. Motor vehicles are not permitted on the trail.
The rail trail starts at Happy Valley just off of I-77 near Parkersburg, WV. The trail passes next to North Bend State Park near Cairo. The trail ends 72 miles from it's start near Wolf Summit, 
In this post we describe a hike that begins at the parking lot that used to service the dining lodge. Initially we follow the Hemlock Bridge Trail. There is an optional hike on a spur trail that leads to Whispering Cave. However, in this post we instead continue on until we reach Hemlock Bridge. After crossing the bridge we follow the Grandma Gatewood Trail to the Old Man's Cave region. After exploring this area, we retrace our steps back to where we parked. The round-trip hike is 4.2 miles.
Getting 
I am reluctant to go hiking when the high temperature for the day is a single digit, so that's really put a crimp in our hiking plans for this winter. However we took advantage of a warm spell last week to book a couple nights at the lodge at Mohican State Park. Once there we did one of our favorite hikes that took us by Little Lyons Falls and Big Lyons Falls on the west side of Clear Fork with the return route following along the creek on the opposite side. As a reward for finally getting outside 
The boardwalk at Maumee Bay State Park is one of my favorites in the state. When we are checking out various parks and preserves in the northwest corner of Ohio, we often stay at the lodge in Maumee Bay. And despite having hiked for much of day, about 40 to 45 minutes before dusk we will head out to the boardwalk for an evening stroll. More times than not, we will see wildlife not far from the boardwalk.
It looks like the fawn above is a little buck; you can just make out the beginning 
Earlier this week we stopped by the Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk to view the osprey nesting platforms. We had been checking the platforms on and off for a few weeks, and they had been completely bare. But to our delight when we went to the boardwalk this week, both platforms had nests.
We weren't there long when the osprey on the nesting platform began calling to its mate. And soon after we spotted its mate flying back toward the nest with a fish in its talons.
We watched with 
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. 
Yesterday we went on an early evening walk at Char-Mar Ridge Preserve. We were half-way around the loop trail when we heard a strange sound. It sounded like a fire-breathing dragon (if there were such things) and it was getting closer. I immediately recognized it and we started watching the sky. Deb was ready with her camera as the hot-air balloon flew over still fairly close to the ground. It drifted overhead, firing its burners to gain more altitude. Then it vanished over the tree line, the roar