Walking is great exercise for young and old. And as we’ve learned during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a good way to get exercise and keep your social distance so you’re not exposed to infection. It’s a perfect antidote to being cooped up in your Ohio University off-campus housing.
You don’t really need any equipment other than clothing suited to the weather that day and comfortable walking shoes, as well something to carry water in. If you have a phone app that measures the distance you’ve walked and other factors, all for the better (though beware that apps that use GPS tend to rapidly deplete battery power in your cell-phone). If you plan to do more strenuous hiking or climbing, make sure your shoes are appropriate for that.
If you’re new to this area, it’s worth knowing that Athens and the surrounding area has some great walks. Get out of your Athens rental house or apartment and try out a few. There are many, many more.
- Sells Park on Athens’ Far East Side is highly rated for walking, biking or running, with lots of well-marked trails and a pond. It’s at the end of the street (Avon Place) that heads north from East State Street, across from the Athens Community Center, and connects to the Strouds Run State Park Trail System and trails maintained by the local Nature Conservancy. Another trailhead into this area is located at the end of the side street across East State Street from Walmart. A third can be found a short distance up Home Street from East State Street, on the eastern edge of the city.
- Strouds Run State Park has 2,606 acres of hardwood-forested hills. The wooded lakeside setting is perfect for fall hiking, with multiple trails of varying length and difficulty. Among the trails is a very easy handicap accessible trail that runs along the lakeshore (with parking at the shelter house along Strouds Run Road), and the Vista Trail, which starts from the trailhead at the entrance to the park campground and rises to the top of a ridge, giving a panoramic view of the lake.
- The Ora Anderson Trail near the Dairy Barn Arts Center on Dairy Lane in Athens offers a historic experience while you’re walking a beautifully wooded hillside trail. The grassy meadows provide valuable habitat for birds. This is a one-mile loop, though you can extend your hike by leaving the trail at the top of the ridge and walking in the high pastures that rise above Athens.
- A visit to 10,000-acre Hocking Hills State Park requires some transportation from Athens (about 45 minutes’ drive) but once you get there, you’ll have your choice of trails that take you past caves, cliffs, waterfalls and more. Don’t miss Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave, Conkle’s Hollow, Rock House or Cedar Falls.
- The Ridges on Athens’ South Side is a 750-acre preserve anchored by the historic campus of buildings (some in use, many not) that once served as the Athens Asylum. The Ridges boasts many miles of trails and two-track lanes that run through high pastures, woods, hilltops and ravines, and has been a popular destination for many generations of OU students and community members. (The aforementioned pastures above the Ora Anderson Trail are part of The Ridges.)
- A new hiking area, the Baker Preserve, is a mile or so east of the Strouds Run State Park parking area on U.S. Rt. 50 east of Athens. Turn left onto Ohio Rt. 690 and drive a half or 3/4 mile and the trailhead parking area is on the left. This nature preserve includes a 2.5-mile look trail with several spurs and offshoots. It’s a strenuous hike, with lots of up and down, streams to cross, and trees blocking the trail.
- The Hockhocking Adena Bikeway that runs from just east of Athens on Rt. 50 west through Athens and then northwest to Nelsonville offers plenty of options for walks of varying distances on a flat, paved surface. The bike path runs parallel to the Hocking River in spots, as well as the old canal that ran through this area. Much of the path runs through pretty forested and river bottom country.