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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The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
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Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
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Historic Sites39 places, from Fort Steuben and Zoar to Camp Chase and the Rankin House, from the frontier to the Civil War.
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Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
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Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
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Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
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Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
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Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
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Lake ErieWest Virginia27 places277 places77 places73 places35 places519 places1913 places1319 places1916 places168 places810 places1010 places109 places98 places820 places204 places43 places3Barkcamp State Park4 places47 places77 places76 places69 places917 places173 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places2Forked Run State Park3 places32 places26 places610 places103 places32 places2

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117 parks in 7 regions

Wayne National Forest: Ironton Unit

Ironton · Lawrence, Gallia, Scioto & Jackson Counties · Southern Ohio
Managed by U.S. Forest Service — Wayne National Forest
107,090acres
—trail miles
1934established

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
U.S. Forest Service — Wayne National Forest (search this park)
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
Ironton Ranger Station, 6518 OH-93, Pedro
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
ReserveOhio — camping and cabin bookings
Hunting or permits
National forest land is open to hunting under Ohio Division of Wildlife rules. Deer and turkey are the main game. Pine Knob Campground stays open into December to support hunters and winter campers. A valid Ohio hunting license is required, and hikers should wear blaze orange in season.

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.

The story of this land

The Ironton Unit sits on the Hanging Rock Iron Region, the source of much of the country's pig iron in the 1800s. From about 1818 to 1873, forty-six stone furnaces were built here to smelt locally mined iron, and each one fed on huge amounts of hardwood charcoal. The town of Ironton takes its name from that industry, and the forest is full of the ghosts of it: furnace ruins, old roads, and the sites of communities that no longer exist.

One of those was Poke Patch, a predominantly Black community in the 1800s. Little is written down about it beyond that. Today the Forest Service points to it as one of the many lost communities whose sites the Wayne now protects.

By the 1930s the region was left with bare ridges and abandoned mines, and the federal government began buying it back in 1934 to rebuild the forest. The Ironton Unit is the most varied of the three, with ponds, small waterfalls, Stewart Knob (1,040 feet, its highest point), and the Hanging Rock Motorized Trail System, built on mined land that was turned into a recreation area.

Things to do in the park

  • Camp at Iron Ridge (32 sites) or Oak Hill (28 sites), both partly reservable
  • Camp free at Paddle Creek Horse Camp, open year-round, or at Timbre Ridge Lake
  • Hike, ride or drive to Stewart Knob for the view
  • Fish and boat on Timbre Ridge Lake and Lake Vesuvius
  • Ride the Hanging Rock Motorized Trail System

Trails

Maps, reviews and recent trail reports for Wayne National Forest: Ironton Unit.

Find trails on AllTrails →

Things to do nearby

  • Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area, listed separately, with a beach and lakeside camping
  • Ironton and its downtown, in the old river-and-iron corridor
  • The Ohio River, with boat ramps and scenic drives
  • Vesuvius Furnace, a stone iron furnace inside the Lake Vesuvius area

Hiking trails

A large network of hiking, horse and off-road vehicle trails. Lake Vesuvius has its own 46-mile horse trail system, and the Hanging Rock Motorized Trail System serves OHV riders. Over 50 small ponds dot the Hanging Rock area.

Wildlife you might see

  • White-tailed deer and wild turkey
  • Oak-hickory forest returning after two centuries of furnace charcoal cutting
  • Small waterfalls, ravines and over 50 ponds in the Hanging Rock area
  • Waterfowl and fish on Timbre Ridge Lake and Lake Vesuvius

Fishing

  • Timbre Ridge Lake and Lake Vesuvius have bass, bluegill and catfish, and the Hanging Rock area's ponds offer more quiet fishing. Ohio fishing license required for ages 16 and up.

Hunting

National forest land is open to hunting under Ohio Division of Wildlife rules. Deer and turkey are the main game. Pine Knob Campground stays open into December to support hunters and winter campers. A valid Ohio hunting license is required, and hikers should wear blaze orange in season.

The Furnace Towns That Vanished

Walk almost any ridge in this unit and you can find the outlines of places that no longer exist. Forty-six stone furnaces once stood in this iron country, and a furnace often had a community of workers and their families around it. Between 1818 and 1873 these hills produced iron by burning mountains of hardwood into charcoal. When the furnaces went cold the towns emptied, and the forest grew back over them.

Poke Patch is one of those places. It was a predominantly Black community in the 1800s, and then it disappeared, like many of the forest's lost places. Today you can walk ground where families once lived and find no sign of them.

Behind the legend

The iron history is documented. The furnaces and the dates come from a Wayne National Forest history story map, and the ruins of several furnaces still stand, Vesuvius among the best known. What is thin is the record of the people. Poke Patch is remembered as a predominantly Black community, but little of its story is written down. That is why the Forest Service now points to it as one of the forest's lost communities, and it is part of why this land matters as more than scenery.

The larger story is that these hills were used almost to death: cut for charcoal, dug for ore and coal, plowed until they eroded. Then the government bought them back in the 1930s and the woods returned.

If you go

Visit Vesuvius Furnace and read the interpretive signs, then take a walk along an old forest road and watch for stone foundations and old roadbeds. Treat any ruin you find as a cemetery would be treated: leave everything where it is.

Campsites

Iron Ridge Campground
32 sites · partly reservable · electric and water at reservable sites
Reservable
Oak Hill Campground and Two Points Group Camp
28 sites at Oak Hill plus a group camp · Lake Vesuvius area
Reservable
Pine Knob Campground
Stays open into December for hunters and winter camping
First-come
Paddle Creek Horse Camp
Open year-round · trailhead for horse riding
Free
Timbre Ridge Lake
Lakeside camping
Free

On site

  • Reservable family and group campgrounds
  • Boat launches at Lake Vesuvius and Timbre Ridge Lake
  • Horse trailheads
  • Beach at Lake Vesuvius (Big Bend Beach, seasonal)
Reserve on Recreation.gov →
Iron Ridge, Oak Hill and the Two Points Group Camp take reservations through Recreation.gov. Pine Knob, Paddle Creek Horse Camp and Timbre Ridge are first-come. Most reservable sites close in mid-October, so check the Forest Service page for current seasons. Field Notes Ohio can't hold a site for you.
Prefer the phone?740-534-6500

Most reservable Ironton sites close around the second weekend of October, while Pine Knob and Two Points stay open into December for hunters, and Paddle Creek Horse Camp is open year-round. The phone number is the forest's Welcome Center in Nelsonville, which handles all three units.

Restaurants nearby

The Armory Smokehouse
BBQ in an old armory; open daily with live music
Directions
Patties & Pints
Speakeasy-style burger place with an extensive tap list
Directions
Melini Italian Restaurant
Full Italian menu downtown; open daily
Directions

Gas stations nearby

Quick Stop
Small local station out on SR 243
Directions
Speedway
24 hours in Ironton
Directions

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