From the Moonville Rail Trail website:
This 10-mile rail trail takes visitors through the beautiful woodlands of southeast Ohio, including Zaleski State Forest; the communities of Zaleski and Mineral; and the Lake Hope State Park wetland areas. The corridor holds water on both sides of the trail, creating a wetland area that is home to numerous species of flora and fauna.
Additional points of interest along this trail are two unique and historic tunnels. King’s Hollow Tunnel (also known as King Switch Tunnel) is a 120-foot structure carved through the rock and lined by a series of 12x12 wooden beams. The Moonville Tunnel is brick-lined and has a long history of train accidents, earning the tunnel a reputation for being haunted.
From the Lake Hope State Park website:
Though the roar of the iron furnaces no longer echoes through the hills of Vinton County, there are many reminders of days gone by at Lake Hope State Park. Situated at the northern edge of Ohio's Hanging Rock iron region, the park reflects the rich history of southeastern Ohio's industrial past. Built in 1853-54, the Hope Furnace processed the iron ore extracted from the region’s sandstone bedrock. The iron resulting from the ore smelting process was used to produce many different items including ammunition and cannons for the Union Army during the Civil War. Hundreds of men labored, cutting timber, working the furnace, and driving teams of oxen hauling iron ore to the furnace. Charcoal fires, needed to fuel the furnace, were tended 24 hours a day. So much wood was required for this process that the surrounding hillsides were almost completely stripped of their timber.
At the height of the Hope Furnace’s production, Ohio was one of the nation’s leading producers of iron. As time passed, iron ore was discovered farther west, and Ohio’s reputation as a major iron producer waned. The Hope Furnace shut down in 1874, after only 20 years of operation. By 1900, nearly all the major furnaces in southern Ohio were shut down. Today, the Hope Furnace chimney and some of the foundation are all that remain of the structure. Near the chimney, one may find pieces of slag, the cast-off residue from the smelting process. These pock-marked, glass-like pieces have now become a part of the forest floor.
The forest we now see is one that has grown back in place of the primeval forest that once stood hundreds of years ago. For a time, coal was an important Vinton County export. Many mines tunneled into the hills and large quantities of coal were transported out utilizing ox-drawn coal cars, and later the railroad. Most of the mines were abandoned early in the 20th century. Lake Hope Forest Park was created in 1937 by the Division of Forestry. The lands became Lake Hope State Park in 1949 when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was created.
From the Zaleski State Forest website:
The 27,822-acre Zaleski State Forest is the second largest forest in Ohio's system of state forests.
Zaleski State Forest operates the only state-owned sawmill in Ohio. The mill produces rough sawn lumber for use by Ohio’s state forests and state parks as well as other government agencies.
Historic Moonville Tunnel is located within Zaleski State Forest on the Moonville Rail Trail right-of-way.
Pictures
Description
On Friday, June 14, 2024, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful bicycle-portable simultaneous activation of Lake Hope State Park (US-1968) and Zaleski State Forest (US-5455) in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.
Eric started his ride from Mineral at 1416 UTC when the temperature was 71°. The ride west along the smooth gravel Moonville Rail Trail was pleasant and easy. Eric passed over many bridges and through the King's Hollow Tunnel and the Moonville Tunnel. The rail trail still missing two bridges beyond Moonville Tunnel, Eric was forced to detour onto the hilly, rough gravel, Hope Moonville Road for about a mile before rejoining the Moonville Rail Trail. Upon reaching the intersection with Wheelabout Road, Eric left the Moonville Rail Trail and rode the short distance on roads to the Lake Hope State Park entrance and then to the picnic shelter overlooking Lake Hope just beyond the swim-beach.
Entering King's Hollow Tunnel.
Exiting King's Hollow Tunnel.
The pond in Bear Hollow.
Entering Moonville Tunnel.
Exiting Moonville Tunnel.
Lake Hope, viewed from atop the new dam.
The picnic shelter overlooking Lake Hope.
Eric arrived at the picnic shelter at about 1515 UTC, finding it to be unoccupied. He chose to operate in the end of the picnic shelter nearest Lake Hope, deploying the ad hoc 35' end-fed random wire antenna from his KH1 Micro Travel Kit as a sloper up to the top of his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast strapped onto his bicycle, laid the single 13' counterpoise wire on the floor of the picnic shelter, set up his KH1 on the picnic table, and was on the air at 1521 UTC.
Eric's KX2 station.
Eric's mast and antenna.
As he had expected, Eric had no cell-signal at this location and would be unable to spot himself on the POTA Spots website (link) or to use POTA Spots to identify possible Park-to-Park (P2P) QSOs. Because of this, prior to leaving his home, he had announced his upcoming activation on POTA Spots in the hope that he would be auto-spotted once he started calling CQ.
Eric began his operation on 40m, finding himself a clear frequency to run and beginning to "CQ POTA". He must have been auto-spotted, and his first QSO came at 1524 UTC with KY3G in Kentucky. This was followed at 1525 UTC by a P2P QSO with KE4GTQ who was activating Kings Mountain National Military Park (US-0720) and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (US-4577) in South Carolina. Eric's final QSO on 40m came at 1529 UTC with AA9FT in Illinois.
Switching to 20m, Eric found a frequency to run and began calling "CQ POTA". His first QSO in this run came at 1537 UTC with KB0FIX in Missouri. This was followed at 1538 UTC by a QSO with W0MM in Texas and at 1539 UTC by a QSO with WA5RML in Texas. Hearing someone calling "CQ SOTA" just below his own frequency, Eric slid down and at 1542 UTC he completed a QSO with WW4D. Eric returned to his own frequency, began calling CQ, and his next QSO came at 1543 UTC with AB3GB in Pennsylvania. Eric's eighth QSO on 20m came at 1547 UTC with WB5MET in Texas. This run included QSOs with operators located in Missouri, Texas (3), Illinois, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota (2).
Switching to 17m, Eric called "CQ POTA" for several minutes but received no replies to his calls.
Switching to 30m, Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1607 UTC with K9VIC in Illinois. This was followed at 1609 UTC by a QSO with K4WNY in Tennessee, at 1614 UTC by a QSO with KE8PTX in Michigan, and at 1616 UTC by a QSO with W8NWG in Illinois.
In all, Eric logged fifteen QSOs in fifty-five minutes of air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.
Eric's log
After packing up his station and loading his bicycle, paused to take some photos of Lake Hope and then began his ride back to Mineral.
Lake Hope.
Underneath the former Gallia County SR160 Raccoon Creek Bridge.
Entering Moonville Tunnel.
Exiting Moonville Tunnel.
Wetlands along the former railroad right-of-way;
notice the former railroad telegraph-line pole.
Entering King's Hollow Tunnel.
Exiting King's Hollow Tunnel.
Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Lake Hope State Park, KFF-1968.
(return)
