How are the hiking trails at Batelle Darby? I am looking for moderate level hikes that are fairly wooded on unpaved trails. Would Batelle Darby be good for this?

I feel like this might be a stupid question but is there anywhere in Ohio that filtered water is safe to drink? I’ve read about heavy metals a few times but I really can’t find much information.

Hi everyone! ❤️ My fiancé and I are planning a small, intimate wedding in Hocking Hills on April 17, 2027, and I’m having a hard time figuring out the best lodging setup for our group!
We’re hoping to find a larger cabin or property with a big enough common space to host a casual dinner with our family and friends on Friday night and another dinner after our ceremony on Saturday. Ideally, it would also have enough parking for guests who may be staying at other cabins nearby.
My dream setup would be to have one larger cabin where everyone could gather for meals and spend time together, while Ken and I have a smaller, more private cabin to ourselves for our wedding night through Monday. We’d love for our guests to have the option to choose their own cabins nearby, too, so everyone can stay where they’re comfortable without being spread too far apart.
Has anyone done something similar or have recommendations for cabins, cabin communities, or properties that might work for this? I’m open to any ideas because I’m struggling to figure out what makes the most sense logistically!
We really want the weekend to feel relaxed, intimate, and special, with time to spend with our favorite people without making it a huge production. Thank you so much! 🤎🌿

Which is a better: Glen Helen nature preserve or John Bryan state park? Also a lot of people have suggested parking by Peaches bar and grill and walking the bike path to Glen Helen. How far down the bike path do you have to walk to get to Glen Helen nature preserve?

Hi everyone!! I’m planning on doing a solo backpacking trip on the archers fork trail. I’ve read some sketchy stories about Wayne national forest, and am a little nervous to go out there by myself as a 20-something year old female. It’s remote and has little cell service so I want to make sure it would be safe enough for me before driving all the way out there. I don’t have a weapon other than bear mace clipped onto an accessible part of my pack. I do have a decent amount of backpacking experience but all other trips have been with another person.

Maybe I’m just being paranoid but I’d rather be safe than sorry!

Found this tiny little guy while hiking this afternoon at a local park in Cincinnati. Seek says it’s a common box turtle. 36oz water for reference. I did move him across the path to keep him from getting stepped on. Just a reminder to keep your eyes open 👀

Hey everyone, I asked the mods and they're OK with me posting this.

I spend a lot of time on multi-day trips and hikes, and after enough bad situations with no signal I realised I needed an app that didn't exist. So I built LastBar.

It's a free app that maps real mobile coverage as you drive or hike, and combines that with signal maps from other users. When you're stuck with no signal, it points you to the nearest place your phone will work, and to the nearest water, shelter, clinic, police station or fuel, all offline. There's no account, no sign-in, and it only uses about 3% battery a day.

Android phones build most of the map, since iOS limits what the app can read in the background, but iPhone users can still see coverage data captured by other users and find signal based on that and cell tower locations.

The app is still new so the map is empty where nobody has been with it yet, but every drive, walk, or hike fills in the map for the next person. If you're planning an outing soon, I'd love for you to try it out and let me know what you think!

There's more info at https://lastbar.online/ if you'd like to take a look.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=agency.clc.lastbar

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6816038882

is there any nice hikes i just moved lmk the beautiful views and good places to smoke and chill and enjoy the view i need places closest to grove city or places atleast 1 hr away

I recently visited Salt Fork State Park and was really impressed by the size of it, I did 2 hikes, the first one being Hosak’s Cave, which was only about a half mile round trip on a well maintained gravel trail. The second trail i took was the stone house loop which was a bit longer as it was around 2 miles. This trail was Easy but is moderately difficult when it is wet. The views were amazing here !

I was in an interactive map earlier this week that let me select trails on state properties and it told me the total distance selected. Need to find it again but Im not googling correctly I guess. Specifically the lakeside nature perserve is what im looking for.

Picture of fallsville hiking preserve in highland county. Home sweet home.

Is this group specifically for Ohio or are there any hikers here with experience hiking in other states as well?

Is there anyone hiking in Hocking Hills the next few days?

ODNR is planning to log one of the last nice section of the southern loop of the Zaleski backpack trail. They said they will shut down miles of the trail for up to 2 years. This is near point C of the trail… near the overlook. The logging is currently up for public comment until 10/1/26. Click the link to submit comments!

Did about 10 miles last Saturday, starting at Boston mills and hoofing it out to Jate and back. Rain started about an hour in but I had my rain jacket and waterproof Solomon's to keep me relatively dry. It was a great hike even if my knees weren't too happy by the end of it.

Looking to do a bunch of hiking over the weekend just by myself. Only idea so far is hocking hills but would love ideas for other places. Thanks!