Road Fork Section

Trail Alerts

• (9/10/2023)

  Former Road Fork Section Supervisor, Tom Rohr, is warning about a hazardous culvert crossing between Pts 2 and 3. At the very end of the description of Pt 2, you are directed to exit Caldwell Lake Rd onto a footpath. About midway through the 1 mile footpath, after a lengthy downhill (CW) slope, the trail passes by a culvert running under Caldwell Lake Road. The obvious stepover to span the small stream flowing from the culvert is across a large and tilted flat stone. This stone can be very slippery. Please use caution. An alternate is to follow a path just below the stone stepover and cross through the stream.

• (7/13/2023)

  It has been brought to our attention that the Road Fork Baptist Church on SR 260 and mentioned in Point 11, has burned to the ground. A wooden sign still stands, but who knows for how long. Since the church was used as an identifier in the text with mileage from the turn onto SR260, be aware that the building does not exist. The cemetery and small parking area remain.

• (3/2/2023)

  Please note from Point 13 to Point 14 in the Road Fork Section that the local land owner along county road 78 does not permit hikers to camp, use their trash can or property as a picnic area, park, nor use the privately owned privy. Any possible infringement of their property rights can and will result in a call to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Avoid this inconvenience by not trespassing on this, or any other private property.

Map Updates

• (6/6/2023)

  This map update, for the Roadfork map dated November 2020, affects both the Road Fork Section between Pts 29 and 30 and also the Archers Fork Loop Trail (AFLT). This trail change replaces a relatively uninviting path on an old oil and gas well service road. The reroute was accomplished with assistance from the River Valley Mountain Bike Association; a Wayne National Forest Marietta Unit work crew; and BTA members Tom Rohr, Russ Flesher, and Richard Lutz. Please note that the route is concurrent with AFLT mountain bikers and is flagged both blue (for BT) and yellow (for AFLT). Use appropriate caution.
  
  This update adds an additional mile from Point 29 to Point 30. Please add 1 mi to CW distance at each point 30 to 31 and add 1 mi to CCW distance at each point 29 through 1. As a result, the total mileage for the Road Fork Section becomes 64.7 mi.
  
  The following describes the new route:

  • Pt 29. Footpath at Upper Archer’s Fork Rd (T34)       CW 59.3 CCW 5.4
    • Cross Upper Archer's Fork Rd (SE).
    • In 0.36 mi,the trail joins the new segment of trail to the left (slightly NW) which meanders another 2.2 mi through a wooded valley until it turns right (S) and in 40’ reaches Bell Cemetery Rd (T421).
  • Pt 30. 4-Way Junction of Bell Cemetery Rd, AFLT, and Footpath       CW 61.9 CCW 2.8
    • Continue on as described on the 2020 map.
  • Pt 31. Footpath at County Rd Nine (C9)       CW 64.7 CCW 0.0

  
  
• (5/5/2022)

  The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has closed and plans to reroute SR 537 between Dearth Ridge-Rias Run Rd C13 and Clearfork Road T307. This section of highway encompassed the whole of the trail between Road Fork Pts. 17 and 18. In response to this closure, the BT and the Forest Service have permanently rerouted the trail between these two points.
  
  Please add 1.2 miles to CW distance at each point 18 through 31 and add 1.2 miles to CCW distance at each point 17 through 1. Note: the log below has the corrrected miles.

  
  
  

  CW	CCW	Pt
  30.9 S	32.8 N	17	End of Dearth Ridge-Rias Run Rd (C13) at (SR537) Continue straight ahead from Dearth Ridge-Rias Run Rd. onto (SR 537). Follow the highway south on a flat open area that parallels the Clear Fork of the Little Muskingum River. After about 1 mi, the trail turns left onto (T313, unmarked), a gravel access road that crosses the Clear Fork on a new, modern bridge. After a few hundred yards, bear slightly left (an oil tank on the right) as the roadway fades and merges into an off-road, wooded trail. The trail starts flat and then gradually climbs about 200 feet at a modest grade, and after about .6 mi, it intersects and turns left onto unmarked (T312). The road runs a bit north and then east onto unmarked (T313) where it ends at Clearfork Road (T307). The trail turns left, and after about .6 mi, a prominent Forest Service sign for Lamping Homestead, a National Forest Wayside with hiking trails and pond, marks this intersection.
  33.9 NE	29.8 S	18	Clearfork Rd (T307) at Entrance to Lamping Homestead

  
  
• (8/22/2021)

  This Trail Change reports a change in the distances reported at Pt 19 in the current Road Fork section map, a change which is made necessary by an editing error made during its preparation. Fortunately, Tom Rohr, Section Supervisor of the Road Fork section, noticed that the distances shown for Pt 19 in the current Road Fork map are incorrect. Please change the distances in the heading for Pt 19 to read 34.6 under CW and 27.9 under CCW. The entire heading should read:
  
  34.6    27.9    19. Footpath at Clear Fork Rd (T307)
  
  If the date shown on the cover of your Road Fork map does not read November 2020 and you plan to hike that section, we encourage you to acquire the current map which does summarize two important relocations and other updates.

Trail Towns

• There are no Trailtowns in this Section at the present time.

Section Blogs

• (11/6/23) Road Fork Section Blog - Provided by Victoria Livingston, BTA hiker. Situated right along the Wilderness Section of the Buckeye Trail, the Hayloft Airbnb has a rustic charm. One-lane gravel roads lead hikers through the hilly, pastoral countryside. Though the one-lane remote roads are great for hiking, they are scary to drive. Follow Victoria and her husband Dave as The Buckeye Boomers Attack The Wilderness Section/

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