Buckeye Trail - Road Fork

Road Fork Section

View Map   •    Trail Alerts   •    Map Updates   •    Section Blog

Trail Description



Andrew Bashaw

Supervisor: Tom Rohr
• 419-281-7465

57.8 Total Miles / 19.2 Off Road Miles (33.2%)
Map Publication Date: July 2011

Along with the Whipple Section, this section provides a link between the off-road trail in AEP Recreation Lands and North Country Trail in the Marietta Unit of Wayne National Forest. Although somewhat below average in off-road trail, this segment lies in very remote, wooded country of high ridges. Some of the roads are so little used that days may pass between vehicles. The trail leaves the Belle Valley Section in Belle Valley and heads east past Caldwell Lake, Fulda, Lamping Homestead and Ring Mill on the way to the Whipple Section at County Road Nine.

Click Here for a Key to Services

Trail Alerts

  • (6/14/16)The Wayne National Forest has closed a portion of their Archer’s Fork Loop Trail that is used jointly by Buckeye Trail and North Country National Scenic Trail. The closure occurs between Archer’s Run Road (T58) and McCormick Hill Road (T410). The closure by the Wayne affects the Buckeye Trail between points 27 and 28. See details below. Note that distances are not particularly accurate in this section.
    CW CCW Pt
    50.4
    SW    		 6.9
    NE    		 27 Irish Run Rd (T58) at Junction with Archers Fork Loop Trail
    The Archers Fork Loop Trail is a 9.4 mile loop trail within the Wayne National Forest. BT/NCT comprises about 1/2 of the loop. The half between here and Point 30 is described in the text below. The other half of the loop is described as the description of Archers Fork Loop elsewhere.
    Continue SW on Irish Run Rd. After 0.25 mi, exit N onto McCormick Ridge Rd (T410). Climb gently. After 0.4 mi, exit road onto footpath. The closure ends here. And the following description is the same as that found in your Road Fork Map, Edition of July 2011. Soon ford a tributary of Irish Run. Trail turns briefly S in middle of power line easement but then turns abruptly W and ascends very steep slope. Trail now undulates along ridge.
    51.4
    S    		 5.9
    E    		 28 BT/NCT at Great Cave near St Patrick’s Cemetery Rd (T411)

Map Updates

  • (6/24/17) This trail change moves the trail off road into the Lamping Homestead Recreation Area. This new route uses parts of the existing trail system within the Recreation Area. The USDA Forest Service describes the system as a Short Loop and a Long Loop. It can also be described as a perimeter trail with a cut-off near its mid-section. The Short Loop is at the northerly end of the system; the Long Loop, the southerly end. Visit https://www.hikingproject.com/directory/8012184/lamping-homestead-recreation-area for an area map which shows both loop trails distance within Road Fork Section. The new route increases the amount of trail off road through this remote area of the state to 19.2 miles or 33.1% of the total.

    The revised details below update the text under Pt 18 in your Road Fork Section Map, Edition of January 2011. The former trail length of the Road Fork Section was 57.3 miles. With this change, its length has been increased to 57.8 mi. To update the distance for points before Pt 18, increase the CCW distance by 0.5 mi. For points following Pt 19, increase the CW distance by 0.5 mi. Although the distances recorded in 2005 are much less accurate, the revision applies also to the Edition of January 2005.
    CW CCW Pt
    31.9
    NE    		 25.9
    NW    		 18 Clearfork Rd (T307) at Entrance to Lamping Homestead Recreation Area
    Facilities: C, P, Pr, PS, PT, W Exit Clearfork Rd onto driveway into Lamping Homestead Recreation Area. Go NE for 350'. Then, turn E across lawn toward woods near lake. Follow the Short Loop trail generally E around lake. Near a feeder stream, begin gradual climb towards ridge ahead. After 0.9 mi, a trail returns W to the Homestead. Continue generally S on the Long Loop trail which will descend. After 0.6 mi, leave the Long Loop left onto footpath. Descend S on footpath that soon turns SW. After 0.3 mi, the footpath ends at Clearfork Rd (location: 39.61632°N, 81.18792°W). Go S on Clearfork Rd which crosses Clear Fork Creek after 0.18 mi.
    34.6
    E    		 23.2
    N    		 19 Clearfork Rd (T307) at Witten Creek Rd (C15)
    Return to the trail description in your current Road Fork Map.

  • (12/14/15) This update corrects a serious error in the reported distance between Points 27 and 28. The reported distance on the current map reads 1.0 mile. The corrected distance is 2.1 mile. Add 1.1 mile to all clockwise (CW) distances for Points 28 and greater. Similarly, add 1.1 mile to all counterclockwise (CCW) distances less than that of Point 28. This error was pointed out by Tom Rohr, Road Fork Section Supervisor. The corrected distance was identified by Chuck Hewett, author of a Buckeye Trail Guidebook as yet unpublished, and confirmed by Richard Lutz, BTA's GIS Specialist.

Section Blogs

  • There are no Blog posts at the present time.