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Contact Info for the Hikemaster, Fred Harner |
AHA! Upcoming Events | |||
| Date of Event | Where | Length | |
| September 14, 2002 (Saturday) | Fort Hill State Memorial | 5 miles | |
| September 28, 2002 | Archers Fork Trail, Virginia | 9.5 miles | |
|
Contact Info for the Hikemaster, Fred Harner |
AHA! Upcoming Events | |||
| Date of Event | Where | Length | |
| September 14, 2002 (Saturday) | Fort Hill State Memorial | 5 miles | |
| September 28, 2002 | Archers Fork Trail, Virginia | 9.5 miles | |
Several of us are scheduled to hike the Fort Hill State Memorial (Deer Trail) south of Bainbridge (SW of Chillicothe, about a two hour drive from Athens). This is a moderately difficult 5 mile trail that takes about 3-4 hours (Page 209 of the "50 Hikes in Ohio" book.) We will leave Athens at 7:00 AM from the East State Street pool parking lot.
Approximately five (5) miles with an elevation of 1,280 ft. and vertical rise of 418 ft. A slow hiker like me completed the longest trail in just over four (4) hours, including several breaks totaling at least 20 minutes.
I classify this hike as moderate to strenuous. The only difficulty I had was with the vertical rise of 350 ft. in less than .5 mile to Jarnigan's Knob, but it was well worth the effort. I crossed over the main loop trail, the Deer Trail, to the Gorge Trail and was glad I did! This trail is, indeed, "gorge-us," like the Ask Cave to Old Man's Cave trail in the Hocking Hills.
This hike is one of the best in Ohio that I have completed (I've done 27 hikes so far). I highly recommend it, and give it an 80/20 enjoyment-to-effort rating. Alert: Be prepared to get feet-wet and muddy if conditions are wet.
Fort Hill State Memorial is one of the best-preserved archeological sites in Ohio. This tract of land, with rolling hills, a winding stream and rock houses, is a piece of wilderness in the true sense of the word˘an area not now being profoundly affected by human use. . Hiking Fort Hill is like walking the pages of an ecology text. It is thought that Native Americans of the Hopewell culture inhabited the area between 300 B.C. and A.D. 600. Don't miss this hike if you want an exhilarating, peaceful experience in the wilderness!!!
I will provide the trail map, but you can also download one from USGS 7.5' Sinking Spring, or get a brochure from the Ohio Historical Society for Fort Hill State Memorial. I consider this item absolutely essential for safety purposes.
Travel west on US 50 from Chillicothe through Bainbridge to the Ohio Rt. 41 intersection. Fort Hill
State Memorial I located on Rt. 41 about 12 miles south of Bainbridge. The entrance is well marked
on the right going south on Rt. 41.
One of my favorite and most challenging hikes is Archers Fork Trail
(Page 147 of the "50 Hikes in Ohio" book.) in Washington/Noble Counties northwest of New
Matamoras (north of Marietta). This is a 9.5 mile trail that will take 6-7 hours to complete, and is a
difficult trail in parts. It is about a two hour drive from Athens, so we would leave from the East
State Street pool parking lot at 6:30 AM. We need to leave early, because it takes longer to
complete this trail than most other trails in the region.