Home Page





Dean State Forest

State Park Information




State Park Overview

Located in the unglaciated hill country of extreme south central Ohio, Dean, one of Ohios 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 State Route 373 in Texas Hollow, are visible resuolts 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. A side variety of recreational opportunities exist at Dean State Forest. One popular activity is hunting. Deer, wild turkey, grouse, squirrel and rabbits are hunted in season at Dean. Several small ponds are located on the forest, and used by anglers. Mushroom and ginseng hunting are becoming increasingly popular activities. Approximately 20 miles of bridle trails run throughout the forest and offer users a scenic ride through the woods. Hiking is also permitted on the bridle trails.

Forest Rules


More Info
Enter Search Term ODNR Facilities Lawrence County. State Forests Dean State Forest. State Nature Preserves Compass Plant Prairie State Nature Preserve. Boating Areas Lake Vesuvius Ohio...
Gallia County Summary. Note Some of the hyperlinks included in the summary may require the use of the Adobe Acrobat Reader Software. Located in southeastern Ohio, the 1998 population of Gallia...
Jackson County Summary. Note Some of the hyperlinks included in the summary may require the use of the Adobe Acrobat Reader Software. Located in southeastern Ohio, the 1998 population of...
This page is for the state of Ohio and is a subpage of Horse Mule Trail Guide USA. ... -4035 Brush Creek State Forest, Peebles, 614-372-3194 Dean State Forest, Pedro, 614-532-7228 Houston Woods State Park, ...
An Ohio grassroots environmental organization with two major projects protecting public forests and organizing citizens affected by coal mining.
Appalachian Focus Environmental News. | Home | Back | News List | Sitemap | Enviro group ready to sue to protect endangered bats Appalachian Focus Environmental News. B1 Submit Date 11/5/00 ...
xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> OHLAWREN-L Archives. From "Donald & Kathleen Dean" Subject [OHLAWREN] Dean State Forest Information Date Sun, 8 Oct 2000 134953 -0400. I...
Lawrence County, Ohio. City. Railroad. Current Location. Type. Current Use. Date Built. Track Status. Bldg. Mat. Current Railroad. Notes. Black Fork. CH&D. 4 mi. S of town, under Dry Ridge...
Issue #19 November 20, 2000. In This Edition 1. NEWS FROM THE STATES. Oregons Measure 7 Raises Questions, Lawsuits Expected. North Carolina Forces Developer to Double his Money. Controversy...
Issue #27 February 4, 2001. In This Edition 1. NEWS FROM THE STATES. Western States Seeking Control of Federal Lands. Wisconsin Introduces Bill to Ban Cyanide Use in Mining. TN Holds Little...
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT. IRONTON GYPSY MOTH CONTROL PROJECT. Lawrence and Scioto Counties, Ohio. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Wayne National Forest. U.S. Department of...
United States Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. Wayne National Forest Ironton Ranger District. 6518 State Route 93 Pedro, OH 45659 (740) 534-6500 (740) 534-6565 Fax (740) 534-6568 TTY....


Area Fishing Related Businesses
Lakeview Grocery & Sporting
10346 State Route 279
Oak Hill, OH
(740) 682-3915


Freedom Outdoors
145 Duis St
Wheelersburg, OH
(740) 574-5600


Tackle Box
120 N 2nd St
Ironton, OH
(740) 533-1187


Tire City & Radiator Land
1731 Greenup Ave
Ashland, KY
(606) 324-0600


TNT Tackle
507 Us 60 Hwy
Ashland, KY
(606) 928-2798


Bloom Lake
775 Bloom Furnace Rd # C
South Webster, OH
(740) 778-9213


Vic's Bait & Tackle Shop
115 Cemetary Rd
Ironton, OH
(740) 532-6847


Borders Sporting Goods
5876 US Route 60
Ashland, KY
(606) 928-6326


Ray's Wholesale Inc
9713 Grandview Lake Rd
Ashland, KY
(606) 928-2546




Area Resorts and Lodging
Marriott Hotels & Resorts Marriott Kingsgate Conference Hotel
151 Goodman
Ironton, OH
(513) 487-3800


Dean State Forest

All Bike Trails in the United States of America All Top Rated Private Camping Resorts RV Parks in America All Top Rated Cabins and Cottages  across America