Dean State Forest

Dean State Forest

149 Dean Forest Road Pedro, Ohio 45659

Official Website
Dean State Forest website
Dean State Forest brochure with map

Also, see all the hotspots at:
Lawrence County Birding Drive

About this Location

Located in the unglaciated hill country of extreme south central Ohio, Dean, one of Ohio’s first state forests, was established in June of 1916.

The early history of the region centered around Dutch and Irish farmers who emigrated from Pennsylvania. From the early 1800s to about 1900, most of the timber in the area was cut for charcoal to supply blast furnaces for the smelting of locally mined iron ore. The area had also been burned over many times by fires started along the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad which ran through the forest. Thus, when the land was purchased in 1916 for Dean State Forest, it was largely denuded of trees and was used as an early reforestation experimental area to determine the best species and planting methods. Several of the planting, such as the white pine, red pine, and tuliptree along OH-373 in Texas Hollow, are visible results of those experiments and efforts.

In the early 1930s, a Civilian Conservation Camp was located on the forest. Supervised by the Division of Forestry, camp personnel constructed and improved access roads and did much timber stand improvement work. Today, Dean contains an unbroken block of 2,745 acres of forest land.

Notable Trails

Dean State Forest Trails
There are 12 miles of trails in Dean State Forest including:
Pinkston Trail – 4.1 miles – full loop, access from OH-373 at both ends
Periscope Trail – 1 mile – linear, access from OH-373 and Loop Road
Periscope-Tar Kiln Connector – .5 mile – linear, access from trails only
Tar Kiln Trail – 1.1 miles – linear, access from OH-373 and Loop Road
School House Trail – 1.3 miles – linear, access from OH-373 and Loop Road
Locust Ridge Trail – 2 miles – linear, access from Loop Road and Texas Hollow Road, connects to Wayne
Easter Hollow Trail – .5 mile – linear, dead-end, access from Texas Hollow Road
Post Trail – .5 mile – linear, access from Loop Road and Texas Hollow Road
Bonnie Run Trail – .5 mile – linear, access from Wolf Road
Cemetery Trail – .3 mile – linear, dead-end, access from Loop Road

Features

  • Restrooms on site

Content from Dean State Forest webpage