by William Eric McFadden
From the Strouds Run State Park website:
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Strouds Run State Park is located in the scenic forested hills of Athens County, in the midst of the unglaciated Appalachian Plateau. Although untouched by the vast ice sheets that moved across portions of the state over 12,000 years ago, Strouds Run displays the effects of the glaciers — in the deep ravines and high hills — where the valleys served as outlets for torrents of glacial meltwaters. The erosive power of these waters carved the valleys and hillsides, creating the familiar topography Ohioans know today. Large deposits of glacial outwash, primarily sand and gravel, were deposited along these streams and strongly affected the type of biological communities present today.
Sandstone, the principal bedrock outcropping in the region, is very resistant to erosion and forms the uplands and steep sides of the valleys. Twisting roads and forest trails pass through these deep ravines and lead to dense stands of beech, hickory, oak, maple and tuliptree. Seasonal displays are offered by flowering dogwood, redbud and spring wildflowers — with fall presenting a pageant of colorful foliage. These woods are home to white-tailed deer, fox, raccoon, opossum, squirrel, wild turkey and a variety of songbirds. Woodthrush, white-breasted nuthatch, scarlet tanager, pileated woodpecker and the rufous-sided towhee inhabit the forest canopy. These rugged hills and woodlands are truly reminiscent of the wilderness that characterized the Ohio country in the days of early settlers.
Pictures
Description
On Tuesday, December 30, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed an activation of Strouds Run State Park (US-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.
Just two days prior to this activation, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, had bicycled to Bulldog Shelter within Strouds Run State Park on a 70° afternoon. On the visit he made this day, however, the temperature was a much colder 22°, and it was windy. This was to be Eric's 140th activation of the park, and it will have earned him his first Tier Two Fox Den Repeat Offender Activator Award.
Eric arrived at Bulldog Shelter at about 1640 UTC, finding the shelter and the parking lot to be unoccupied. Because of the bitter cold and the wind, he chose to operate inside his car.He quickly deployed his 29' Tufteln (link) EFRW as a vertical on a Jackite 31' telescoping fiberglass mast supported in a drive-on base, placing three 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground. Mounting his Elecraft KX2 on his car's passenger-side dashboard, and connecting earbuds and a Whiterook MK-33 single-lever paddle, Eric was on the air at 1650 UTC.
Eric's KX2 station.
Eric's mast and antenna.
As he has usually been the case at this location, Eric had cell-signal at Bulldog Shelter, and he would be able to access POTA Spots to spot himself and to find Park-to-Park (P2P) QSO opportunities.
Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, he began calling "CQ POTA" and was quickly autospotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1652 UTC with W9DR in Illinois. QSOs came very quickly, with Eric's nineteenth QSO coming at 1711 UTC with AD6TN in Nebraska. This run included QSOs with stations located in Alabama (3), Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois (2), Maine, Minnesota, Missouri (2), Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Eric finished his operation by hunting P2P QSOs. At 1711 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with KG1A at Guana River Wildlife Management Area (US-6305) in Florida. At 1716 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with NA9M at Governor Nelson State Park (US-1452) in Wisconsin. Finally, at 1722 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with WC1N at Carolina Wildlife Management Area (US-7716) in Rhode Island.
In all, Eric made twenty-two QSOs, including three P2P QSOs, in thirty-two minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts of output.
A view of Dow Lake.
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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