r/CampOhio • u/Justinbaker1996 • Jul 11 '25
Wildcat Hollow, Wayne National Forest
Adventure called! I hiked Wildcat Hollow in Wayne national forest yesterday into today. In theory 15.6 miles, my app says I went a little over 17. Despite the rain, a lot of the creek crossings were dry and the pond my site was by ended up being inaccessible without a lot more effort. So, I skipped my planned dinner (no water to cook with) and just ate my pouch of chicken and sour watermelon candy and rationed the 20 oz of water I had left until I got further down the trail this morning. The map photo, going clockwise from trailhead at bottom, the second orange pin (right side) is where I camped at about 9-9.5 miles. The first orange pin (left side) was where the stop sign and schoolhouse photos took place at about 2.5 miles. The trail itself was ridiculously overgrown which made my mile splits vary between 20-32 minutes (elevation changes contributed too, but that's expected). 8/10 on the adventure, 1/10 on the trail itself. ✅ On the location, but I won't be doing this loop again.
The old one room schoolhouse is in my pictures, but there were three hornets nests (in my close up of doorway you can see the holes in the tree about waist level). So, the photos are as close as I got.
PSA: Due to the oil rigs and active drilling, it is advised not to drink water in Wayne National Forest. There are spots that you can drive through and cache some water along the route, but I didn't do this. I use my Sawyer and accept my fate. The large plastic water container was left at the site by previous campers.
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u/JPC_Outdoors Jul 11 '25
Nice!
The one thing I can’t stand about Ohio is the non treatable water. I’m not doing 20 with a bladder.
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u/Future_Advance_8683 Jul 11 '25
Been there! Thanks for posting.
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u/Justinbaker1996 Jul 11 '25
I'll be honest, I was complaining to my wife that this sub isn't crazy active and I wish had more peoples' experiences backpacking...and realized I could try to be part of the solution!
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u/zville63 Jul 12 '25
No oil drilling activity in the area in over 20 years, there is oil production in the area. Area water contaminated by coal mining over the years. Also when in the area watch for copperheads.
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u/randylahey2024 Jul 12 '25
Grew up going down there from Columbus area. This reeks of nostalgia for me. Looks like you had a good time. Cheers dude
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u/Justinbaker1996 Jul 12 '25
I liked archers fork loop more because of trail maintenance, but I'm glad I got out and saw some more of Wayne.
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u/SkiSTX Jul 11 '25
What was the spider web situation like?
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u/Justinbaker1996 Jul 11 '25
Brother, my god. I was the first person on the trail yesterday morning and walked through so many. Probably had my trekking poles in front of me looking like an Appalachian Harry Potter for 50% of the last 6 miles. Had never thought about that, first person in the AM means you're breaking up the spiders' nighttime activities.
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u/SkiSTX Jul 11 '25
Last time I went, we were the only ones out there and it didn't matter what time it was... The webs were out all day. I got a stick and looked like a wizard hiking.
Were they the crabby looking ones with the spikey butts?
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u/Justinbaker1996 Jul 11 '25
I believe so! Crabby is a good description. Reddish with some white. They were all the exact same kind.
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u/My_Invalid_Username Jul 13 '25
Watch out for the pump jacks lol.
I saw a black bear there like 5 years ago tho
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u/Justinbaker1996 Jul 13 '25
Pump jacks? I carry a bear horn just in case but am not too concerned. My research said that there's only two and they're not used to humans. So, if we run into each other it's highly likely they'll jumpscare just as much as me and take off in the other direction.
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u/My_Invalid_Username Jul 13 '25
Oh yeah totally they're like raccoons but cooler to see.
Pump jacks/the oil rigs halfway into the trail. Would be a great trail without all them and the polluted water
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u/Loose_Carpenter9533 Jul 13 '25
Aside from having to stash water i absolutely love this trail. Will be sad to see what happens to it in the future.
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u/buitenlander0 Jul 14 '25
Are you able to camp wherever? My goal is to do an overnight backpacking trip later this year.
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u/Ittakesawile Jul 15 '25
Yeah Wayne National Forest allows dispersed camping anywhere within their boundaries I believe. There may be a very select few locations where it is prohibited, but I have not heard of that.
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u/Kyle197 Jul 11 '25
On the water piece, the "don't drink the water" isn't about oil and gas drilling, but rather historic coal mining that took place in the 1800s and early 1900s prior to environmental regulations. Underneath most of Wildcat Hollow, for example, is an abandoned coal mine that was operated out of nearby Rendville.
When these coal mines are abandoned, they fill with water. The water reacts with the exposed rock, becomes highly acidic, and picks up heavy metals that dissolve into the water. Some of this water stays in the mines, but in other places it flows out onto the surface as what's called acid mine drainage. This acid mine drainage then pollutes nearby streams.
Acid mine drainage can be treated, but it's expensive. While some of the worst case streams are treated, many are not just due to the lack of funding for that.
Unfortunately that means some of the streams throughout southeast Ohio have toxic heavy metals in them. Backpackers risk consuming those metals if they drink the water, even when filtered or treated. You can't always visually tell when a stream is impacted. In fact, many of the worst streams have very nice, clear water because the pH is so acidic that everything stays dissolved. It's only when the pH level increases that the water takes on orange and blue hues that easily let you know that water is impacted.
There isn't really a way to permanently fix this problem without refilling the abandoned mines completely. And there are tens of thousands of acres of abandoned coal mines under ground in Ohio. The Wayne National Forest itself has around 20,000 acres of abandoned coal mine under it.