Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
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  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

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State parks & forests117 places, with cabins, campsites and trails117 places Waterfalls34 falls, with trail notes34 falls Mounds & earthworks64 ancient sites, from Serpent Mound to Newark64 ancient sites Caves & caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters12 caves Lake Erie beaches20 public beaches, Conneaut to Toledo20 beaches Historic sites40 places, from the frontier to the Civil War40 places Road trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail33 drives Oddities19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops19 roadside stops The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile loop, all 26 sections1,444 miles

New to the guide?

Six places to start

One from every corner of the state, each with its full story inside.

01Old Man's CaveHocking Hills · SoutheastA gorge of waterfalls and recess caves where a hermit is said to have lived, with the park's visitor center. 02Great Serpent MoundAdams County · SouthwestA gigantic earthen snake on a hilltop over Ohio Brush Creek, built by a people whose name is still argued over. 03Brandywine FallsCuyahoga Valley · NortheastThe tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, reached by an easy boardwalk with an accessible upper overlook. 04Marblehead LighthouseMarblehead · Lake ErieThe oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, lit since 1821, on nine acres of limestone shoreline. 05Zoar VillageTuscarawas County · EasternA well-preserved communal village founded by German separatists in 1817, on the Ohio & Erie Canal. 06Longaberger Basket BuildingNewark · CentralA seven-story office building shaped like a picnic basket, with handles that are heated in winter.

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Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

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Parks, forests & wildlife areas

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117 parks in 7 regions

Pike State Forest

Latham · Pike & Highland Counties · Southern Ohio
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
12,531acres
33trail miles
1924established
334 Lapperell Rd, Latham Directions →Official source →

The story of this land

Pike State Forest exists because the hills wore out. In the early 1900s the ridges of western Pike County and eastern Highland County were hill farms that had been farmed too hard and timberland damaged by fire. In 1924 the state began buying the land, with the goal of returning it to productive forest. Most of the reforestation was done in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Division of Forestry, the same crews that dug Pike Lake by hand next door.

The forest is an odd shape. State ownership is broken into 13 separate, irregular tracts, which makes it hard to manage for continuous recreation and hard to patrol. It borders Scioto Trail State Forest to the northeast and Brush Creek State Forest to the south, and today its hills hold hardwoods, a spring show of redbud and flowering dogwood, a lake for fishing and the Buckeye Trail, which runs through the forest and the neighboring state park.

Things to do in the park

  • Hike the Buckeye Trail through the forest and Pike Lake State Park
  • Ride or hike the 33 miles of bridle trails
  • Ride motorcycles or ATVs in the off-road area, which is day-use only and open April to early December
  • Fish at Anderson Lake
  • Hunt in season

Trails

Maps, reviews and recent trail reports for Pike State Forest.

Find trails on AllTrails →

Things to do nearby

  • Pike Lake State Park, next door, with a campground, cabins and beach
  • Fort Hill Earthworks and the Great Serpent Mound on the same Buckeye Trail section
  • Lake White State Park near Waverly
  • Paint Creek State Park and Seip Earthworks to the north

Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
ODNR park finder (search this park)
Location confidence
Verified property location
Pike State Forest, 334 Lapperell Rd, Latham
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Hunting or permits
The forest is open for public hunting in season under Ohio Division of Wildlife rules. A valid Ohio hunting license is required. The off-road vehicle area is closed from the second Monday morning in December until the first Friday morning in April.

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

Hiking trails

33 miles of bridle trails that hikers may also use, plus the Buckeye Trail; the off-road vehicle area has about 10 to 20 miles of trail, depending on the source.

Wildlife you might see

  • Spring displays of redbud and flowering dogwood
  • Mature hardwood forest on the ridges and hollows
  • Public hunting in season across most of the tracts

Birding

Pike State Forest's unglaciated hill-country forest is classic Appalachian warbler habitat — listen for these species in the canopy and understory during the late-spring dawn chorus.

  • Worm-eating Warbler
  • Acadian Flycatcher
  • Kentucky Warbler
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Hooded Warbler
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Louisiana Waterthrush
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Broad-winged Hawk
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Ruffed Grouse (increasingly uncommon)
  • Yellow-throated Vireo

Late April into May, for spring warbler migration and the dawn chorus, is the best time to visit. For a full, current checklist, search this park's name on eBird's Hotspot Explorer.

Fishing

  • Anderson Lake in the forest is a popular fishing spot. Ohio fishing license required for ages 16 and up.

Hunting

The forest is open for public hunting in season under Ohio Division of Wildlife rules. A valid Ohio hunting license is required. The off-road vehicle area is closed from the second Monday morning in December until the first Friday morning in April.

The Forest That Was Put Back Together

Nobody could have looked at Pike County's ridges in 1924 and called them a forest. They were hill farms worn out by too much plowing and hillsides burned over by fire. The state started buying up the wreckage, tract by tract, and never managed to get it in one piece. Today Pike State Forest is thirteen separate, oddly shaped pieces scattered through Pike and Highland counties.

The Civilian Conservation Corps did the planting in the 1930s, and the trees they planted have had ninety years to grow up. Walk the Buckeye Trail through one of the tracts now and you are in a mature forest that was once somebody's cornfield.

Behind the legend

The 1924 start, the 1930s CCC reforestation and the thirteen tracts are all in ODNR's own history of the forest. A Buckeye Trail Association hiking story adds a modern footnote: on one tract, signs announced that 77 acres had been logged and sold in 1999 for $131,400, and that logging has continued since, a reminder that a state forest is a working forest as well as a park.

Pike Lake next door was dug by CCC crews by hand, so the lake and the forest have the same builders.

If you go

Hike the Buckeye Trail from Pike Lake into the forest in early spring for the redbud and dogwood, and look for the signs that explain how each tract is managed.

The Buckeye Trail at Pike State Forest

Ohio's 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop passes through or beside this park. Tap a section for its route, camping, water and resupply.

12 Sinking Spring Section

54 miles · Pike, Highland, Adams
The trail runs through the forest and next-door Pike Lake State Park
2 parksMoundsTrail towns

There is no camping in Pike State Forest; the closest campground is at Pike Lake State Park next door. The off-road staging area is for day use only.

Where to camp nearby

Pike Lake State Park
Campground and cabins on a small lake, right next to the forest
Directions

Restaurants nearby

The Paxton Restaurant
The closest proper sit-down meal, opens 6 a.m. Closed Sundays
Directions
Country Crust Bakery
Amish bakery on the way in. Cash only, closed Sundays
Directions
FredNecks Pizza
Pizza in Bainbridge. Closed Mondays
Directions

Gas stations nearby

Bainbridge 1st Stop
Opens 5 a.m. — fuel up here, options thin out fast toward the park
Directions
Sunoco
Second Bainbridge option; no public restroom
Directions

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

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