Posted in Hiking, Park review, Southeastern Ohio

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 ➜
Posted in Hiking, Park visit

Burr Oak State Park: Hiking the Upper Loop

We spent the Fourth of July weekend at Burr Oak State Park Lodge. While there we hiked what I'm calling the "upper loop." It is a 4.2 mile hike that begins at the parking lot where Mountville Road terminates at Burr Oak Lake. The terrain for this hike is hilly with a total elevation gain of 1,315.5 ft. During a portion of the hike there were glimpses of the lake through the trees. Getting oriented We traced our hike using the My Tracks Android app. Below is a map showing our route. And Read more ➜
Posted in Ohio Industrial History, Park review, Southeastern Ohio

AEP ReCreation Land

Two months ago we visited the site of a former coal strip-mine in eastern Ohio. The area was the site of a massive surface mine that supplied 110 million tons of coal for electric power generation in the region. Big Muskie — one of the largest earth-moving machines in the world — operated in this area. The bucket of this leviathan was large enough to hold two full size buses. Mining operations involved removal of all surface vegetation, topsoil, and the earth overlying the coal Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, Park review, Southeastern Ohio

Burr Oak State Park

We've visited Burr Oak several times over the years. On our first trip to Burr Oak we had scheduled a week of camping. In our family, this became known as the "Rain Drenched Burr Oak Camping Trip". On the plus side, I learned to cook meals over a camp stove in the rain. (Hint: use flint and steel to ignite the burner. Works better than rain-soaked matches). Our next trip, we stayed at the Burr Oak Lodge and then went hiking at Wildcat Hollow in Wayne National Forest. The Wildcat Hollow Read more ➜