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Lake
Hope, located in Vinton County, Ohio, offers 28
miles of mountain bike trails for visitors to
the state park in southern Ohio.
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ZALESKI,
Ohio - Without a doubt, Lake Hope is Ohio's Fat Tire
Capital.
Other
Ohio state parks offer mountain biking - Dillon, Alum
Creek and West Branch - but none offers what Lake Hope
State Park does.
The park
in Vinton County in southern Ohio features 28 miles of
mostly intermediate single-track mountain biking.
In 2001,
I had visited Lake Hope and pedaled its lone mountain
biking route, the 4.5-mile Little Sandy Trail.
It was
the first at Lake Hope, but thanks to volunteers from
the Athens Bicycle Club, the mountain-biking options
have grown.
The
volunteers have logged more than 3,500 hours (through
2006) to create the growing mountain-biking network that
runs from the lake north to the ridge tops, with three
designated trailheads, club spokesman Malcolm Idleman
said.
Lake
Hope's trails are "excellent single track, rolly,
not super technical," he said. "They were
built by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. And that's
important. ...They're all sweet and slightly
different."
I pedaled
past an old iron smelting furnace along state Route 278,
past a cove filled with lily pads and into the heavy
woods where the Habron Hollow and Bobcat trails slowly
climbed via switchback after switchback. They took me to
Copperhead Trail, with its tight turns atop the ridge.
A second
ride began at Grouse Point on Bobcat Trail, with its
climbs and descents and lots of switchbacks. It heads
north for 3.5 miles and also connects with Copperhead.
The
rides, mostly designed for beginners and intermediates,
are fast and rolling, not straight up and down and not
overly rocky or rooty. You will work on the climbs, but
they won't kill you.
The
routes are marked by signs affixed to trees.
Another
option is to pedal Sidewinder and Little Sandy trails,
which together create a 5.5-mile loop. You can pedal
uphill or opt for a fast downhill run, depending on
where you start.
An easier
and relaxing option is to just pedal around the scenic
120-acre lake.
The club
has added two tougher trails for advanced riders:
Yosemite Ridge and Yosemite Falls, Idleman said.
Two miles
of trails have been added since last fall, he said.
The park
distributes a brochure and map that suggests three
rides: a 10-mile loop on Copperhead, a 5.5-mile loop on
Sidewinder and a 16-mile pedal called the Big Loop.
Mountain
bikers really have 56 miles of trails at Lake Hope,
because they can be ridden in either direction, creating
far different rides, Idleman said.
Idleman,
57, a high school teacher in Athens and a mountain biker
for 30 years, said he got involved in trail building at
Lake Hope in 2002, after he and friends were ticketed
for illegal bike riding in Zaleski State Forest.
Park
officials were pleased with the care and eco-friendly
touches that went into building the trails, he said.
The park
is happy with the extra visitors, and mountain bikers
are happy with what the park offers. The club's
volunteers also help the park by maintaining the trails.
The
trails are open year-round for mountain biking. There
are no user fees.
Lake Hope
covers 3,103 acres and lies totally within the
26,827-acre Zaleski State Forest, which covers a wooded
and rugged tract in Vinton and Athens counties.
The state
park lies within the Big Sandy Run valley.
Serious
backpackers love the Zaleski Backpack Trail that covers
23.5 miles in the state forest. It is a moderate to
difficult hike. The trailhead lies off state Route 278.
There is a shorter 10-mile loop available. Attractions
along the trail are an old mining town, pioneer
cemeteries, Indian ceremonial grounds, abandoned roads
and ridge-top views.
There are
also 33 miles of bridle trails in the state forest.
The state
park features a campground with 192 sites, along with 66
cabins and a group lodge.
The
park's dining lodge burned in February 2006. That means
that nearby food options are very limited.
Lake Hope
Forest Park was created in 1937 by the Division of
Forestry. Many of its buildings were built by the
Civilian Conservation Corps. It became a state park in
1949.
The park
also offers picnicking, swimming, boating, fishing,
hunting, volleyball, basketball, horseshoe pits, a
playground, winter sports and an interpretive center.
For
information, contact Lake Hope State Park at 27331 State
Route 278, McArthur 45651; 740-596-5253; http://www.lakehopestatepark.com.
For
camping and cabin reservations, call 866-644-6727 or
visit http://www.ohiostateparks.org.
Contact
Friends of Lake Hope at 27331 state Route 278, McArthur,
OH 45651; 740-596-3030.
Or
Zaleski State Forest, P.O. Box 330, State Route 278,
Zaleski, OH 45698; 740-596-5781; http://www.ohiodnr.com.
Something
new is in the works in the Lake Hope area: a rail trail
with a haunted tunnel.
The
Moonville Tunnel will be a big attraction when the rail
trailis done.
According
to stories, a railroad brakeman was struck by a train on
a rainy, cold night. The man was drunk and swayed into
the path of the train.
There are
some who claim to have seen a ghostly figure with his
lantern "a glimmerin' and a wavin'" in the
dark, still trying to stop the train.
The ghost
is even the subject of a bluegrass song, "Moonville
Brakeman," by the Rarely Herd.
The
tunnel itself is 100 yards long. It was constructed in
the mid-1880s and was rebuilt and lined with bricks in
1903.
The
hamlet of Moonville, now abandoned, was home to about
100 people and a loading place for timber.
Railroad
men reportedly called the Moonville area one of the most
desolate sections of B&O track between Parkersburg,
W.Va., and St. Louis, Mo.
You can
find and explore the tunnel.
From the
Lake Hope dam and state Route 278, turn onto Hope-Moonville
Road. At the fork, veer left. The third time you cross
the old railroad bed, you are at the site of Moonville.
Cross the steel bridge at 2 miles and pull over where
the berm widens. Walk the old railroad bed to the left,
cross Raccoon Creek, where a tree trestle is out (if the
water is low), and the tunnel will be straight ahead.
The trail
was acquired by the grass-roots Moonville Rail Trail
Association and was turned over to Vinton and Athens
counties in December 2006.
To date,
6.5 miles of unfinished trail are open and another 9.5
miles are planned.
The
biggest problem is that 12 bridges were removed by the
railroad and must be replaced.
So you
are limited to short walks or rides. Still, it's a rail
trail with potential.
For
information, contact the association at 32799 Morgan
Road, McArthur, OH 45651; or http://www.moonvillerailtrail.com.
One of
the biggest historical attractions at Lake Hope is the
Hope Furnace.
The only
thing standing is the chimney and part of the
foundation.
It was
built in 1852 and produced 14 tons of iron a day until
it closed in 1874.
It was
one of 46 iron furnaces in what was known as the Hanging
Rock iron region in the 1850s.
The area
in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky offered iron ore,
limestone and charcoal produced by the timber growing in
the area.
The
process required so much charcoal that the hills were
almost stripped of their trees.
Each
furnace required 325 acres of wood a year, or 13,000
cords.
Southern
Ohio's iron furnaces started shutting down in the 1870s.