NE Ohio camping areas help needed

AWSmith

AWSmith

Joined
Aug 23, 2012
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A friend (or two) and I are wanting to head into the woods for an overnighter this weekend. I would like to keep it in the north east part of the state, but all the public lands seem to be off limits to camping during this time of year due to hunting season.

Can anyone suggest any place for primitive camping in NE Ohio? By primitive I mean parking, walking in and setting up camp for a night- not looking for primitive camp grounds.
 
Mohican State Forest has primitive camping, they are designated areas but they are away from others and short hikes from parking areas/trail heads. Really nice this time of year. What other places have you looked at?
 
Thanks guys.

My research for state land turned up nothing in this area. A few places have 'primitive' camping, but primitive means designated areas, and that is something I want to avoid.

Heading to Wayne National Forest, Nelsonville area. Little farther than I wanted to drive for a overnighter, but sometimes things just don't work out.

Next trip will be to the Allegheny's in PA. That area looks fantastic, and isn't much farther that WNF from me.
 
I am not sure what you are looking to do, but I would not dismiss Mohican as an option. There are a few spots that are secluded and you can doing pretty much anything you want without hassle. Just because they are designated does not mean they are back in the woods. They are great spots for a quick weekend getaway. Allegheny is just plain awesome! National Forest is the only place you can camp anywhere and do what you want without much restriction.
 
Thanks for the advice at Mohican. I will look into that. It is relatively close (less than 1.5 hours) so it could be a quickie if the opportunity arises.

WV is on the list to visit and camp. That will take more research though, so thanks the for the link. Looking forward to the ANF. Hopefully I will get there before the year end.
 
AWSmith said:
Thanks guys.

My research for state land turned up nothing in this area. A few places have 'primitive' camping, but primitive means designated areas, and that is something I want to avoid.

Heading to Wayne National Forest, Nelsonville area. Little farther than I wanted to drive for a overnighter, but sometimes things just don't work out.

Next trip will be to the Allegheny's in PA. That area looks fantastic, and isn't much farther that WNF from me.
Click to expand...

bit of advice on wayne nat.

lot of hunting down there, bow season in, stay away from camo, go with bright colors, at least a jacket or shirt. makes it a lot easier for someone to see you with out having to look through the scope sitting on their xbow.

look around for a ways around your campsite, wouldn't want to set up a tent to close to somebody's stand.

try to park your vehicle someplace secure, (if you can) nelsonville isn't exactly mayberry anymore.

have fun.
 
Here's a few pictures from the above hike that I took when we went on it weekend before last


This is standing outside the hidden campsite in the spruce on Raven Ridge looking toward where we are heading, the big rocks on Cabin Mt
lookingforward.jpg


This is one of the big rock formations on Cabin Mt (Rocky Ridge Trail on the link) I call it the "Easter Island Heads"
easterisland.jpg


This is from on top of another rock formation looking off the other side of Cabin Mt, viewing Caanen Valley

caanan.jpg


This is after passing Cabin Mt and looking back at where we were from Harman Knob

lookingback.jpg
 
Back from the over nighter.

No issues, camped near a town called Chauncey. Area was near a beaver pond, found a access road that I could pull down off the road, walked about a 1/2 mile, found a flat area with a couple of blow downs, and set up camp.

Ended up having a visit from a Ranger. Said he saw my vehicle, ran the plates and it came back to being owned by a woman-my wife. Took here vehicle as my Charger doesn't do very well on anything other than pavement. Anyways, The Ranger was concerned that there might have been some nefarious activities going on, and took a walk back to find my friend and I practicing fire starting. MOved the vehicle clear of the access road as he asked, and he went on his way.

Tried out a couple new knives and a axe. Knives were Helle Symphoni and a Stromeng 8" Leuku. Both worked excellent, and will find there way with me again. The axe, a Wetterlings Swedish Forest axe, was phenomenal. I have never owned an ax, much less used one before, but it reduced the effort of cutting and splitting firewood to the point of it being silly. On the blow down Gum tree, 3" diameter branches were taken off in one blow of the axe. 6" diameter limbs took less than 30 seconds. We quickly had enough wood to last us the evening. I was very impressed by it, and now I am thinking I need a larger one in the near future.

Started fires with several different methods, shared what I knew with my friend. Threw some chicken and vegetables in the fire for dinner, turned out good, except they lacked a little seasoning.

Got down to the mid forties overnight, and I ended up waking up several times with cold feet. I hang, and had my bivy bag and the green bag of the MSS in the hammock, with me all zipped up. In hindsight, I should have taken the other bag with me. I spent a couple days earlier this year in 15 degree overnight weather, and was cozy both nights with all three bags. Wasn't a very enjoyable night, but I managed.

Packed up early, cleaned up, and headed back home so I could spend some time with the wife that afternoon.

Nice trip, wished it was closer, but had fun.
 
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