Wayne National Forest encompasses over a quarter million acres in southeastern Ohio; the national forest is divided into three units: Athens, Marietta, and Ironton (see the links at the bottom for more information on these units). Like all national forests, recreational use of the forest is only one of its purposes. Forestry officials are also concerned with conservation, timber harvesting, mineral management, livestock grazing, watershed protection, and wildlife management. Among the recreational Read more ➜ Wayne National Forest (Athens Unit): Wildcat Hollow
Wayne National Forest encompasses over a quarter million acres in southeastern Ohio; the national forest is divided into three units: Athens, Marietta, and Ironton (see the links at the bottom for more information on these units). Like all national forests, recreational use of the forest is only one of its purposes. Forestry officials are also concerned with conservation, timber harvesting, mineral management, livestock grazing, watershed protection, and wildlife management. Among the recreational Read more ➜ 
On August 19th we went on a train excursion via the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. The railroad line runs north-south through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The proprietors offer a variety of excursions. We chose the National Park Scenic Excursion, which is a three-hour, round-trip tour of the park.
Tickets and Seating
Since this was a sight-seeing expedition, we splurged and bought tickets for the Premium Upper Dome. In theory our tickets were good for the entire day, and 
Last weekend after hiking at Wildcat Hollow, we drove over to have a look at Monroe Outlook. Monroe Outlook is a scenic overlook providing a large hill-top panoramic view of the area. The site was developed by Wayne National Forest, Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Little Cities of the Forest Collaboration, and Miller High School.
The parking area is a small gravel parking lot with an informational kiosk off of Irish Ridge Road. Its about a 5 minute drive from the Wildcat Hollow trail-head. 
Just prior to our birding trip to Magee Marsh in May, we visited two waterfalls in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stopped at Brandywine Falls - one of the finest waterfalls in the state of Ohio.
Brandywine Falls
The falls is located on Brandywine Creek where it flows over a 65-foot (19.8m) sandstone and shale cliff. For information on the falls history, facilities, and travel directions, please see our prior article.
Blue Hen Falls
After a quick stop at 
Beaver Marsh is located in Cuyahoga Valley National Park near the Cuyahoga River. Years ago it used to be a junkyard with a small stream flowing through it. A local group cleaned up the junkyard in the mid '80's and then some beavers dammed the stream creating the marsh.
The marsh is on a bike / hike towpath through Cuyahoga Valley National Park that extends 110 miles from Cleveland to Akron and beyond. At the marsh, the gravel towpath changes to a boardwalk with small observation 
The Scenic River Trail is a 3.4 mile hiking / mountain biking trail located in Wayne National Forest north of Marietta. One end of the trail is at the Leith Run Camp Site along the Ohio River. The other end is at a small dirt parking lot up in the surrounding hills off of County Road 9.
We visited in early September about the time that the remnants of hurricane Irene were reaching Ohio. Although the winds were not strong, the weather was hot and humid with a continuous, drizzling rain.
We 
Lamping Homestead Recreation Area is located in the Marietta Unit of Wayne National Forest. It offers opportunities for camping, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and picnicking. A 4.5 mile loop trail is open to both hikers and mountain bikers.
We were on vacation, staying in Marietta, OH this past Labor Day weekend. The remnants of a gulf coast hurricane were passing through Ohio bringing unusually warm and humid gulf coast air and occasional rain. We decided to drive north 
This past September we visited Lake Vesuvius in Wayne National Forest. We followed the Lakeshore Trail counter-clockwise around the lake. This trail is supposed to be 8 miles long. The first mile had us traveling past a number of cliffs and outcroppings; if you were to just go a mile and then turn around, you'd have a very scenic hike of moderate difficulty. You'd even get to see the cliff and watery slump block pictured above.
The Lakeshore Trail
Once you go up the steps that lie 
Seip Mound State Memorial Park is one of the five noncontiguous sites that make up the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. The other four sites are Hopeton Earthworks, Hopewell Mound Group, High Banks Works, and the Mound City Group (reviewed by us here). Native Americans belonging to the Hopewell tradition constructed this mound sometime between 100 B.C. – A.D. 400.
The mound pictured above was part of a larger earthworks complex. At a number of sites in Ohio, Native Americans 
What's known as the "Mound City Group" is part of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ross County, Ohio. This land was used for funeral rituals by a Native American civilization that flourished between 200 B.C. and 500 A.D. Mound City is approximately 13 acres in size. A low earthen wall about 3 to 4 feet high (1 to 1.3 meters) lies around the perimeter; it's shape is that of a square with rounded corners. Perhaps the builders of the Mound City thought of the wall as a "sacred enclosure"