Wayne National Forest
The Wayne National Forest is a patchwork of public land that covers over a quarter million acres of Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio.
The Wayne National Forest is divided into three units managed out of two Ranger District offices located in Nelsonville and Ironton, with a field office in Marietta. The Forest features over 300 miles of trails for hiking, all-terrain vehicle riding, mountain biking, or horseback riding in season. The trails are open to ATVs, mountain bikes, and horseback riders from mid-April to mid-December each year. Come visit the Wayne and hike or ride our trails!
Deer hunting is a popular activity on and people come from adjacent states as well as throughout Ohio to hunt big bucks. While there are definitely big bucks to be found, please respect the rights of private landowners and scout ahead. There are over 200,000 acres of Wayne National Forest.
The Wayne National Forest is within a few hours’ drive of several metropolitan areas such as Columbus, Akron, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. Yet it retains an air of nostalgia, with covered bridges, rockshelters, springs and rugged hills covered with hardwood and pine, visitors to the Wayne are welcome to camp, hike, hunt, and fish. There are over 400 miles of trails on the forest for hiking, off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding, mountain biking, or horseback riding.
The following files are some good resources to plan your visit to Wayne National Forest.
This is a short video on the rock bridge located on the archers fork trail.