Shade River
State Forest
Shade River State Forest at a Glance
Date established:
Acreage (total):2,475 acres (1002 hectares)
Miles of trails:None
Campsites:None
Hunting:All hunting allowed
Bordering natural areas: Forked Run State Park
Nearby natural areas: Desonier State Nature Preserve (15 miles)
ODNR Forked Run River Access (4 miles)
ODNR Shade River River Access (5 miles)
Official state forest website:http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/shaderiver
Shade River State Forest is one of the most isolated state forests, and one of the newer ones, being a little over half a century old. Forked Run State Park was carved out of this forest, after Forked Run Lake was created in 1951-1952. Extensive plantings of conifers were made on the state forest in the 1950s. There are no developments on the forest, but it is open to hunting and general primitive use.

Directions

To get to Shade River State Forest, take US-50 east 19 miles from US-33 to OH-7, just before Coolville. Take OH-7 south 5 miles to Success Road, County road 46. Turn left on Success Road and go 3.2 miles to Number 9 Road, Township Road 265. Turn left on Number 9 Road. As soon as you turn, you will be in the forest. You will be continously in the forest for 2 1/4 miles if you stay on Number 9 Road. At 2.0 miles, you can instead turn right on Lake Road, Township Road 277, and you will be in the forest for another mile. Stay on Lake Road, which becomes Putnam Road at 1.3 miles at the intersection with Hudson and Durst Roads. In another tenth of a mile, you will re-enter the forest and will be in it for most of the next mile (with one pocket of private property). At this point, you will enter Forked Run State Park land for 0.3 mile, then in another 0.6 mile, you will come to OH-124. This is a total of about 4.3 miles on Lake-Putnam Roads. If you turn right, the main entrance to the state park will be on your right in 0.8 mile.

Alternate scenic route (use ONLY if you have a back-roads-capable vehicle): After turning on OH-7, go 3 1/2 miles to OH-681. Turn left on OH-681 and go 5 1/4 miles to Harris Road, Township Road 266. Turn right on Harris Road, and it will become State Forest Road 4, and will take you through the heart of the forest. You will enter the forest at about 1/3 mile. At 1 2/3 miles, you will come to a "T" intersection with Number 9 Road, Township Road 265.

Total driving distance from downtown Athens to the heart of the forest: about 32 miles.