Shawnee State Forest – For those who’ve been there!?

If you’ve been to Shawnee State Forest in Ohio with your horse(s) – What did you like/dislike about the trails? Campgrounds? Would you go back? When did you go (month/year)? Anything I should be aware of?

Shawnee is awesome! I really enjoyed the trails, even though there is only about 60 miles of them, It is great for a weekend camping trip.

Horse camp is first-come first-serve so if you are going on a weekend when the weather is nice or for a holiday weekend I suggest getting there early (like Friday morning) so you are sure to get a spot. Also, they do not offer potable water so bring plenty of your own.

There have been a lot of trail renovations going on over the last few years and also some logging so I would suggest asking around to find some people that ride there often and finding out if there are any trail closures you should know about. Also get a trail map. They should have them available at the camp.

Horse camp is for horse campers only, if you have non-horse people camping with you they will probably be asked to leave if the camp is busy and they are taking up campsites.

Last time I was there the outhouses were pretty funky, so be prepared or bring a bucket. (I have one with a clip-on toilet seat I made and use a garbage and pelleted shavings in it. It’s much more pleasant than what they had to offer and I only had to walk to my horse trailer)

No electric hook-up, no shower house. But hey, free camping! (I suggest a shower bag in the horse trailer to stay clean)

They also let you gather dead wood to use as firewood if you don’t want to haul your own in. Actually, because of the Emerald Ash Borer I’m not sure if you are even aloud to bring your own in, you might have to buy local wood. (Can’t remember if we brought our own wood in or not last time, I know Hocking doesn’t let you bring in outside wood).

The 3 main trails are Pidgeon Roost, Silver Arrow and McAtee (I think?) All 3 are pretty nice!

Happy Trails!

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