Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.

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Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

117 parks in 7 regions

Belle Valley Section

Guernsey, Noble · Southeast Ohio

Buckeye Trail Association

58miles

5 of 26clockwise

2counties

Rolling hills, dirt roads and parklands linking the Muskingum lakes to Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area and Jesse Owens State Park.

A hilly, rural stretch that connects the lands of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District with the former AEP ReCreation Land.

Highlights

Salt Fork State Park
Seneca Lake
Wolf Run State Park
Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area and Jesse Owens State Park

Parks on this section

Seneca Lake Park

A big MWCD lake with a campground and marina

Open

Salt Fork State Park

Ohio's largest state park, on the trail route

Open

Wolf Run State Park

Loop hikes and a campground on the route

Open

Jesse Owens State Park & Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area

The former AEP land, with free rustic camping

Open

Section map and alerts

Show this section on the map Distances between stops in this section

The Buckeye Trail Association sells a detailed map for this section and posts current trail alerts.

Official Belle Valley Section page →This section on AllTrails →

Camping

Wolf Run State Park has a campground on the route
Salt Fork State Park has a big campground and cabins
Jesse Owens State Park and Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area have free rustic camping

Campsites are run by different agencies and owners, and the rules and fees change, so confirm before you go.

Lodging near the trail

Skyline Resort

Lake resort with a grill, Senecaville

Resort on Seneca Lake with rooms, a grill and pub, and a dock; guests describe clean, inexpensive rooms.

Directions Call 740-260-1817

These are places to sleep near the route, not places that advertise to hikers. Confirm that they welcome hikers, and ask about shuttles.

Water

Water sources can require careful planning here; carry extra between parks.

Take the stops with you

Save the camps, resupply, lodging, trail towns and parks for this section as waypoints.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 10

The file holds 10 waypoints and a stop-by-stop route line. Locations are approximate, often a town center, so use the stop notes to find the exact spot. Your maps app chooses the roads between stops, usually the fastest, so follow the byway signs where they differ. The GPX arrives in a zip file; unzip it and open the .gpx in a GPS or hiking app. The CSV imports into Google My Maps.