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

Bowerston Section

Carroll, Harrison, Belmont · East Ohio

Buckeye Trail Association

64miles

4 of 26clockwise

3counties

Lakeshores, wooded ridges and country roads, through Muskingum Watershed lake country.

Passes the Muskingum Watershed lakes: Leesville, Tappan, Clendening and Piedmont are all listed on the trail route.

Highlights

Tappan Lake
Leesville Lake
Clendening Lake
Piedmont Lake

Parks on this section

Tappan Lake Park

The trail runs along the western shoreline; 500+ campsites

Open

Piedmont Lake Marina & Campground

Full hook-up camping and cabins on a quiet lake

Open

Clendening Lake Marina & Campground

Camping and log cabins on 40 miles of undeveloped shoreline

Open

Leesville Lake

Ohio's top muskie lake, with marina 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 Bowerston Section page →This section on AllTrails →

Camping

Tappan Lake Park (84000 Mallarnee Rd, Deersville): more than 500 campsites, cabins and a beach right by the trail
The other Muskingum Watershed lakes have campgrounds near the route; confirm with the BTA section map

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

Water

Water is available at the lake parks; filter creek water.

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 Google Maps: stops 10 to 16

The file holds 16 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.