AEP Recreation Land Buckeye Trail

Hike Name: AEP Recreation Land Buckeye Trail Location: southeast OH Length: 16 Submitted by: Ken Hoedt Date Submitted: 9/7/09 Rating:	more Ohio trail reviews Ohio national parks Ohio state parks
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Description
The Buckeye Trail passes through the eastern edge of of a 35,000 acre park created from reclaimed strip mines by the American Electric Power company (AEP). See the maps on the AEP website: http://www.aep.com/environmental/recreation/recland/. We took the Buckeye trail between campsite H (Woodgrove) and K (Bicentennial). The map on the website shows the Buckeye trail only going about half the distance between the two campsites, but it does go all the way.
The hike is moderately strenous. My buddy and I did it in about 3 1/2 hours and we are both 50. We guess it's about 8 miles. We started at Woodgrove and hiked north to Bicenntenial where we camped, and came back the same way the next day. We were the only ones on the trail both ways and this was Labor day weekend with good weather. The trail is almost entirely shaded. There are water sources along the way, but with a hike so short you don't really need them. The section of the trail near to Woodgrove is well maintained and easy to follow. The section closer to Bicentennial is less maintained and overgrown at places In the summer you might want to consider long pants or gaiters to protect the legs from prickers and poison ivy. If you are familiar with the Buckeye trail you know it's marked with blue blazes, which we briefly lost once or twice at the Bicentennial end. The campsites were not crowded, are free, and do not require reservations, but you do need to print out a permit from the website. They are mowed, have water, and outhouses. Fires are allowed. They are mostly used by family campers.
Overall it's a good trail for conditioning, teaching backpacking, or getting away for a couple of days. There are no spectacular views, but a consistent pleasant forest. I'm not a biologist but I was impressed with the biodiversity on reclaimed land. It would nice if the trail was a loop, and we did see signs of unmarked trails that might have offered a second route between the two campsites, but since this was our first time, and the map was inaccurate, we decided to play it safe and retrace our steps.

Directions to Hike
See the map on the website to get to Woodgrove campground. The trailhead is on route 27, 300 feet east of the campground, on the north (left) side of the road. There is a sign.

Contact Information
See website. There Ohio Dept. of Natural Resource manages it, but there is not a lot of official information.

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