Zaleski State Forest — Attraction in Madison Township

Awesome backpacking trail if you don't mind hills and like to feel secluded. Also, there's no cost to camp overnight!

Walked the south backpack loop in 3 days and 2 nights. The hike up from the overnight parking kicks your butt if you aren't ready for the elevation gain, but it's a pretty easy hike once you are on the loop to the first backcountry camping site. There's water and a pretty dirty latrine here (this is the more heavily walked parts of the loop) and the site is only a short distance away. The trail after the first camping site is very overgrown (at least in the heat of the summer) and is packed with poison ivy. The latrine at the second site was very clean, probably because of less traffic. There's a nice spot on the way where you pass a large marsh area, but then goes uphill for a while. After the second camping site is even more overgrown than the previous one, and winds down to a road crossing before starting a lengthy uphill. After that, the north side of the loop cuts through beautiful scenery before ending up back at the beginning of the loop. The key points on the trail are all marked well and there are plenty of blazes on the trees to keep hikers oriented. The trail also has free maps at the beginning. Over the course of the trip, my group only encountered 3 other backpackers.

Would have given the a 5-star review, but there were several campfire sites with trash left from previous campers at several points on the trail. If you do this trail, pack out your trash, please!

I definitely recommend this trail for any experienced backpackers looking for a new adventure. We traveled from Maryland for a new trail and were not...

Pretty nice trails, some steeper areas, but totally doable. The first trail has a pretty cool cave area(see pictures). The camping areas are pretty nice, plenty of trees for hammock's and plenty of areab for a tent. The bathroom is a just a toilet with a hole under it, smells like death. The water is sourced from a pump in the camp. The guys i was with drank directly from it and are still alive, they said it tasted fine. So it's probably okay to drink from. I have t-mobile and I had no service in the park, other than in the camp sites. I didn't go to camp site 2, but camp site 1 & 3 both had excellent service. Be sure to check out the school house gift shop near the tunnel. The lady who worked there gave us some interesting information about the town and gave us something to drink. She was very nice and was the highlight of our trip, she was clearly very passionate about this little town forgotten by time, lived on only by the little evidence they had left behind. I hope she's had a blessed fall season, she mentioned there are a lot of ghost hunting events that go on. Hopefully she doesn't get haunted, although I suspect the ghost would feel like a jerk haunting such a...

If you're a fisherman, hunter, camper, hiker/backpacker, trail runner, nature lover, or just a person looking to get away from the city, Zaleski is one of those few places Ohio offers. Neighbor to the Hocking Hills and Wayne National Forest, Zaleski boasts deep valleys, and rolling hills, covered in a beautiful, deciduous forest, teeming with wildlife. Bird lovers flock here seasonally. Families enjoy the accessible camp sites, cabins, and other amenities. For the fisherman, there's Lake Hope. Hunting land is available for public use. My favorite and the reason I go myself, the 30 mile, wilderness, backpack trail. The trail goes through some of our more historic, and forgotten areas of southern Ohio. A rich mining history exist in this area, and proof of it is everywhere. Just a couple miles away you'll find the notorious, and purportedly haunted, Moonville Tunnel. I could write for hours about the beauty and serenity that blesses you as you get lost miles away from a roadway in the woods here, but enough from me.. Go see for yourself. #ExploreOhio

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