Mohican State Forest
- May 29
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 17
In the midst of Ohio's Amish country lays Mohican State Forest. This largely untouched area features over 88 miles of hiking and biking trails, RV and tent campgrounds, rivers for rafting, and more. But what it offers in terms of trail length, it lacks in other amenities. Simple things like finding a restaurant can mean a 30 - 40 minute drive (depending on where you stay). And be prepared for many cabins and STR houses to use well water (could be a little startling at first if you've never experienced that).
How To Get There
Mohican State Park is located near Loundonville, Ohio. Roughly located halfway between Columbus, OH and Akron, OH.
On my recent trip, my family and group of friends that joined us stayed at a pretty fun Harry Potter themed cabin in Brinkhaven, OH called the School of Sorcery. Brinkhaven is one of the tiniest "town's" I've ever been to. They seemed to use well water (which none of us were used to). Food options are limited to 2 tiny restaurants about 10 minutes away or going for a 30+ minute drive to Loundonville. The STR House, however, was amazing and if you're a Harry Potter fan you should check it out.
What You'll Experience
If you enjoy the outdoors, hiking, and just getting away from civilization, there's plenty of all of that for you. If you want to get out on the water, you can visit Pleasant Hill Lake. It's not particularly large, but definitely big enough to get out there and fish, maybe a little skiing, and canoeing or kayaking.
During our trip a few negative things kept popping up:
Fowl smells even out on hiking trails.
Lack of food and coffee options that were close by (most were 35+ minutes away).
Trails that aren't maintained well (although we did come right after 3 straight days of torrential rainfall).
Far too much driving for basics.
Lots of gravel roads and 2 lane roads that should be 1 lane 1 way roads.
My family and friends visited during a 3 day hiking trip that happened to be right after nearly a week of torrential rainfall. More than Ohio has seen at once in many years. I'm sure this contributed to some of the negatives we experienced.
Trail & More Recommendations
Swinging Bridge – This is one of the more fun spots on the trails. You can access this a few different ways, either from the Gorge Overlook Trail ("extreme" difficulty rating), Hemlock Gorge Trail ("moderate" difficulty rating), or Shelter House Trail ("moderate" difficulty rating) that turns into the Hemlock Gorge Trail.
Covered Bridge – First off, there's about a half dozen or more covered bridges within a 45 minute drive of the Pleasant Hill Dam, but the one you hear the most about is the one close to the dam. From here you can hit up the Shelter House Trail, Pleasant Hill Trail, Lyons Falls Trail, or Hog Hollow Trail.
Lyons Falls – If you want to see some waterfalls, Lyons Falls Trail is the right one for you. Just be aware that even "Big Lyons Falls" is kind of small and not really very impressive. If you really love waterfalls, Hocking Hills and other parks have much better ones to experience.
My Recommendations
If you're looking for something new and are within a 2 hour radius for driving, Mohican State Park might be worth a short trip. But if you are any further than that, and have other places you want to see and experience: go those other places first. This is not a park or area that is anywhere in my list of "top" anything at this point.
But, if you do go, I would recommend that you find a cabin closer to Loundonville if possible. That way you have easier access to food options (which are still limited) and stores if needed. And definitely bring your own food, coffee, and supplies to avoid an excess of time spent driving versus out hiking or having fun.
