Do you enjoy camping/the great outdoors?

[Fungo Squiggly]

Has anyone done any hiking in Monogahela National Forest in West Virginia? I'm going to be staying near Elkins over Christmas and would like to spend a day hiking somewhere out there. Any recommendations would be welcomed. Is Dolly Sods off limits that time of year?

It's about an hour from Elkins, but my wife raves about hiking in Cathedral Forest.

http://www.cathedralstatepark.com/location.html

 

[Gatorubet]

I just did a 6.5 mile hike out in Shenandoah last Sunday. Really beautiful, but I still prefer my old hiking trails in the Catskill Mountains, the Berkshires, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. Here's some pics we recently took while "tramping" in New Zealand during our honeymoon:

What, no hobbits?

 

[MaliBuckeye]

Do they have any starved looking with big heads cut throat trout in there, or is it all glacial melt with no tributary?

Lots of small brown trout, and I've got no idea how they got there. It's glacial melt and rain, and drops off a cliff just out of frame.

 

[Taosman]

Have camped here several times and aside from human eating mosquitoes, it's been great! Takes a lot of planning as reservations take over a year!
http://www.dailyventure.com/journal.php?day=StJohnBeaches

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Trunk Bay

 

[BayBuck]

Anybody have any favorite Ohio campgrounds recommendations? Wife and I are taking out a small camper for a weekend, looking for a nice quiet campsite with some sort of cool outdoorsy stuff nearby. Hocking Hills is the obvious choice, but I'm open to suggestions off the beaten path.

 

[AKAK]

Anybody have any favorite Ohio campgrounds recommendations? Wife and I are taking out a small camper for a weekend, looking for a nice quiet campsite with some sort of cool outdoorsy stuff nearby. Hocking Hills is the obvious choice, but I'm open to suggestions off the beaten path.

What kind of cool outdoorsy stuff? Honestly I'm shocked. Camp grounds all around "The Bay"

 

[BayBuck]

What kind of cool outdoorsy stuff? Honestly I'm shocked. Camp grounds all around "The Bay"

That is true, but we know that area so well already, and we have a place with nice comfy beds and sunset views if we're going to the Bay. I probably am thinking more of woodsy state parks or cool inland lakes, in terms of outdoorsy-ness, some place to spend a nice Saturday hiking etc in between camp-nights. I won't be surprised or disappointed if we end up just doing Hocking Hills, though.

 

[AKAK]

That is true, but we know that area so well already, and we have a place with nice comfy beds and sunset views if we're going to the Bay. I probably am thinking more of woodsy state parks or cool inland lakes, in terms of outdoorsy-ness, some place to spend a nice Saturday hiking etc in between camp-nights. I won't be surprised or disappointed if we end up just doing Hocking Hills, though.

Yeah... state parks, maybe Mohican Good hiking, waterfalls, gorge. (So similar to Old Mans Cave area, etc) Can canoe if you want....

Salt Fork is pretty good...

I guess I'd check those two out before you end up in Hocking Hills. (Burr Oak is a fun drive... with a Camper, I bet. )

 

[buckeyebri]

I would add to the Salt Fork vote. Great golf course.....

 

[AirForceBuck15]

John Bryan State Park and Caesar's Creek are really nice places to go camping around Dayton. Both offer great hiking trails and Yellow Springs (John Bryan) and Waynesville (Caesar's Creek) offer a variety of things to do outside in town near the campsites. Both sites have electric or primitive sites for tents.

 

[gregorylee]

lake hope and wayne national forest is nice also

 

[ScriptOhio]

Ohio's hidden gem: The best hiking trail in America almost never was

This hiking trail in Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park was voted the best in the U.S., but it almost never was. Here's the rest of the story.

10best.usatoday.com

Ohio's hidden gem: The best hiking trail in America almost never was​

How Whispering Cave trail was brought back to life

The 5-mile Whispering Cave hike in Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park claimed the top spot in the 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best Hiking Trail. This moderately challenging loop, comprised of two different trails, features a swinging bridge, a seasonal waterfall, and an impressive 105-foot-tall cave — all guaranteed to captivate visiting nature lovers.

Yet, this new hiker-favorite trail was only discovered in 2017, and its “rediscovery” is as interesting a tale as the cave itself.

Where is Whispering Cave?​

Whispering Cave is located in Hocking Hills State Park in Southeast Ohio, about 55 miles from Columbus. Although the park doesn’t have a gate count, as entry is free, the Hocking Hills Visitor’s Bureau figures that at least 4 million visitors worldwide come to hike, birdwatch, and enjoy the outdoors here every year.

Discovering Whispering Cave​

Anyone who experiences Whispering Cave can thank Jim Schaefer, a Shaker Heights resident and Ohio native who has visited the park with his wife, Joan, since the early 1980s.

While hiking in the gorges of the park's Old Man’s Cave trail, he found a faint unmarked path with a fallen sign marked Gulf Trail that led up along the cliffs to the back side of the park lodge. Schaefer traced the approximate location of this route on his map and kept it for subsequent family visits, always overwhelmed by its natural beauty.

Some 30 years later, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a media release asking for suggestions on improving Ohio state parks. Schaefer responded, suggesting restoring both the old Hemlock Bridge Trail (the Gulf Trail) and the Whispering Cave spur trail just off it. While Schaefer’s suggestion reached the park superintendent, the idea was vetoed at the time, citing the staff, money, and resources necessary to bring the trails back to life.
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