From the Quiet Trails State Nature Preserve website:

Quiet Trails State Nature Preserve consists of 177 acres of ridges and ravines bordering the Licking River in Harrison County, generously donated to the Commonwealth by Mr. and Mrs. W.G. Wigglesworth Jr. For years the family property was set aside as a private nature sanctuary utilized by local Scout troops, schools and private organizations for nature study and as a place for quiet reflection. It was given fr​eely to KNP and dedicated on March 4, 1992. The diversity of birds, trees and wildflowers represent the richness of the Bluegrass fauna and flora. KNP manages this area primarily for environmental education and passive recreation. The preserve is also a Watchable Wildlife Site.

Pictures

• The SNP sign and Eric's station
• Eric's station: 1 | 2
• The trailhead
• The trail

Description

On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Quiet Trails State Nature Preserve (US-7959) in Kentucky as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

While driving to Georgetown, Kentucky, for a family funeral, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, stopped at the state nature preserve's parking area to perform the activation. Eric was accompanied by his wife, Vickie, and their small dog, Theo.

Upon arrival at the unoccupied parking area, Eric quickly deployed a Tufteln (link) EFRW as a 29' vertical on a Jackite 31' telescoping fiberglass mast supported in a drive-on base, and placed two 17' counterpoise wires directly on the gravel. Placing his Elecraft KX2 on his folding camp-chair's flip-up table, Eric was on the air at 1820 UTC.

The park sign and Eric's station.


Eric's station—and Theo-dog.


Eric's station.

Eric was pleased to find that he had cell-signal at this location, and that he would be able to spot himself on the POTA Spots website (link) and be able to use POTA Spots to identify possible Park-to-Park (P2P) QSOs.

Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, he began calling "CQ FYBO" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1823 UTC with WC1D in Massachusetts. QSOs came steadily, with Eric's tenth QSO and a validated activation coming at 1838 UTC with WB2MQQ in New York. This run included a two-fer P2P QSO with WA2OUZ who was activating Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site (US-10663) and Erie Canalway Corridor National Heritage Area (US-6532) in New York and QSOs with operators located in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts (2), New York (2), and Texas (3).

Eric finished his operation by hunting for P2P QSOs. At 1840 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with WD4MRI at Blue Springs State Park (US-1034) in Alabama. At 1842 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with NQ1F at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (US-0321) in Massachusetts. At 1844 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with N1KB at Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site (US-3512) in Texas.

Following his final QSO, Eric took some photos, tore down his station, and re-packed the car before continuing the drive towards Georgetown.

The trailhead sign...


... and the trail.

In all, Eric completed fourteen QSOs (counting the two-fer P2P QSO as two) in twenty-four minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with a power output of five watts.

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