From the Strouds Run State Park website:

Several mounds and ancient fortifications were found in this area by early settlers telling us that the Adena Indians once lived here. In more recent history, this was home to the powerful Shawnee Nation until the Treaty of Greenville forced them to abandon their lands in southern Ohio.

The first settlers arrived in the Athens County region in 1796. Two townships of land in the area had been apportioned by the Ohio Company in 1795 for the benefit of a university. Settlers were encouraged to settle on these college lands so as to make them attractive, productive and to form a fund for the institution.

This venture led to the founding of the town of Athens and Ohio University, the first college in the Northwest Territory. Settlers came by way of flatboats from Marietta down the Ohio and up the Hocking River to an attractive bluff where the town of Athens is now located.

With the discovery of rich coal fields in the area, Athens County soon developed into one of the leading coal producers in the state. The Hocking Canal and railroads provided easy means for shipping coal to distant markets. Clay tile, brick and salt were other industries that brought prosperity to the area.

The park derives its name from the Strouds family who settled in the area in the early 1800s. The land was purchased by the state for forest conservation purposes from 1948 to 1953. The dam creating Dow Lake was completed in 1960. The lake bears the name of C.L. Dow of Ohio University who was instrumental in initiating the project.

Pictures

Fog over Dow Lake: 1 | 2

Description

On Sunday, January 1, 2023, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful New Year's Day activation of Strouds Run State Park (K-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

While trying to decide which park he would visit for a New Year's Day POTA activation, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, noticed he needed only fifty-five QSOs to earn the Kilo Award for 1,000 QSOs at Strouds Run State Park. He, therefore, decided to perform his New Year's Day POTA activation at Strouds Run State Park in order to work toward the goal of earning his first Kilo Award.

Eric arrived at the Bulldog Shelter at around 1558 UTC to find the parking lot empty and beautiful fog covering Dow Lake. Parking his car, Eric quickly deployed his 28½' wire vertical on his 31' Jackite fiberglass telescoping mast on his drive-on base and, because the temperature was still cool, he deployed his Elecraft KX3 inside his car. Eric was on the air at 1605 UTC.

As expected, Eric found he had good cell-signal at this location and he would be able to spot himself on the POTA Spots website and to use POTA Spots to identify possible Park-to-Park (P2P) QSOs.

Eric began his operation by consulting POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities and at 1609 UTC he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with K7UPJ who was activating Colt Creek State Park (K-1848) in Florida.

Finding himself a frequency to run on 40m, Eric began calling CQ and was pleased to see he was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1613 UTC with his good friend K4SWL in western North Carolina. QSOs came very quickly, with Eric's twentieth QSO in this run coming at 1637 UTC with W4LSV in Tennessee. This run included QSOs with operators located in North Carolina (3), Indiana (3), Michigan (3), Kentucky, Ohio (3), Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Jersey, West Virginia, South Carolina (2), and Tennessee.

Switching to 20m, Eric found a frequency to run, began calling CQ, and was again pleased to be auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1643 UTC with KJ7DT in Idaho. QSOs came quickly, with Eric's ninth QSO in this run coming at 1654 UTC with IW2NXI in Italy. This run included a QSO with F1BDL in France and QSOs with operators located in Idaho, Wisconsin, Texas (3), and California.

Pausing to check POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities, Eric made a P2P QSO at 1656 UTC on 20m with NA9M who was activating Waunakee Marsh State Wildlife Area (K-4339) in Wisconsin. This was followed at 1702 UTC by a P2P QSO on 20m with K1NGZ who was activating Padre Island National Seashore (K-0690) in Texas. Finally, at 1705 UTC, Eric made a P2P QSO on 20m with K0BWR who was activating Weston Bend State Park (K-1796) in Missouri.

Returning to 20m to run a frequency, Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1708 UTC with WB2TQE in Florida. QSOs again came quickly, with Eric's twentieth QSO in this run coming at 1731 UTC with K1BZ in Maine. This run included QSOs with operators located in Florida (3), New Jersey (3), Kansas (2), Maine (2), Colorado (2), New York, Texas, California, Minnesota, Arkansas, Illinois, Connecticut, and Wisconsin.

Pausing again to check POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities, at 1739 UTC Eric made a P2P QSO on 20m with W4RIN who was activating Shepard State Park (K-2551) in Mississippi. This was followed at 1748 UTC by a P2P QSO on 30m with KD4O who was activating Palmetto State Trail (K-9203) in South Carolina.

Switching to 30m, Eric found himself a frequency to run, began calling CQ, and was again pleased to be auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1753 UTC with KG5WAW in Texas. As on the other bands, QSOs came quickly, with Eric's tenth QSO in this run coming at 1803 UTC with K9IS in Wisconsin. This run included QSOs with operators located in Texas, South Carolina, Indiana (2), Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Maryland, and Wisconsin.

Eric finished his activation by again checking POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities. At 1808 UTC, he made a QSO on 40m with KK4DF who was activating a Summits on the Air summit on the frequency a very short time earlier had been used by POTA activator. At 1812 UTC, Eric made a P2P QSO on 40m with KJ4R who was performing a two-fer activation of Manchester State Forest (K-5486) on the Palmetto State Trail (K-9203) in South Carolina. At 1817 UTC, Eric made a P2P QSO on 40m with K4TNE who was activating Goose Creek State Park (K-2731) in North Carolina. Finally, at 1826 UTC, Eric made a P2P QSO on 40m with W9UUM who was activating Great River State Trail (K-8672) in Wisconsin.

Sometime during the last half-hour of the activation, Eric's KX3 began to exhibit keying errors. Eric is unsure if the issue is his paddle, the interconnect cable, or the KX3's built-in keyer.

In all, Eric made seventy QSOs, including ten P2P QSOs, in about two and half hours of operating time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.

Since Eric had needed fifty-five QSOs to earn the Kilo Award for Strouds Run State Park but made seventy QSOs, he did succeed in earning his first Kilo Award.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Strouds Run State Park, KFF-1994.

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