Moonville Rail-Trail

Rail-trail in Ohio, U.S.

Moonville Rail-Trail

Length| 10 miles (16 km)
Location| Vinton and Athens County, Ohio
Established| 2021
Trailheads| Zaleski, Ohio • Mineral, Ohio
Use| Hiking, horse riding, and cycling
Elevation gain/loss| 7 feet (2.1 m) loss
Highest point| 731 feet (223 m)
Lowest point| 691 feet (211 m)
Grade| 0%
Difficulty| Hard
Season| Year round
Sights|

*     * Zaleski State Forest
* Lake Hope State Park

Surface| Gravel/dirt
Maintained by| Moonville Rail-Trail Association
Website| vintoncounty.com/moonville-rail-trail-association/
King Switch Tunnel

The Moonville Rail-Trail is a ten-mile (16 kilometer) rail-trail in southeast Ohio, located in Vinton and Athens Counties. It is largely embedded in the Zaleski State Forest and passes close to Lake Hope State Park. The trail is named after the Moonville Tunnel through which it passes.

The trail is built on the grade of a railroad originally built as part of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, which ran between its namesake cities. The M&C was acquired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad becoming its Southwestern Division. The B&O was merged into the Chessie System Railroads, which was then merged into CSX Transportation. CSX abandoned parts and sold parts of the old M&C line in stages during the late 1980s. Track was removed from the abandoned sections.

The section of the railroad grade (with track removed) from the Red Diamond Powder Plant on the west end (between McArthur and Zaleski) to Mineral on the east end was acquired by the respective county governments through Clean Ohio Conservation Fund grants. The underlying property is owned by the Athens County Commissioners in Athens County, and by the Vinton County Commissioners in Vinton County. The rail trail runs from Zaleski to Mineral. The rail remains intact from the Diamond Powder Plant westward nearly to Chillicothe. The track from Mineral eastward is abandoned through Athens and to Belpre.

This rail-trail is open to hikers, horse riders, and bicyclists. It has a gravel/dirt surface and has many stream crossings where the railroad bridges were removed during the dismantling of the track. Work to restore the many bridges in order to make the entire stretch passable is underway.[1] The trail features two tunnels: the Moonville Tunnel, a masonry tunnel in Vinton County that is reputed to be haunted,[2] and the King Switch Tunnel, a timber tunnel in Athens County.

The governing organization of the trail, Moonville Rail-Trail, Inc., hopes to eventually extend the trail eastward to New Marshfield then to Athens to join with the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway.

## Location

[edit]

* West terminus at Zaleski: 39°17′10″N 82°23′24″W﻿ / ﻿39.286232°N 82.390138°W﻿ / 39.286232; -82.390138
* East terminus at Mineral: 39°19′29″N 82°15′54″W﻿ / ﻿39.324751°N 82.265112°W﻿ / 39.324751; -82.265112

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Staff (December 29, 2020). "New bridge to be built along Moonville Rail Trail over Raccoon Creek". The Athens Messenger. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
2. ^ Horvat, Jackson (November 16, 2020). "Moonville tunnel's complicated history attracts visitors, mediums". thepostathens.com. The Post. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Moonville Rail-Trail, Inc.

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Protected areas of Ohio

Federal|

| National parks|

* Cuyahoga Valley

|

National historical parks and sites|

* Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP
* First Ladies NHS
* Hopewell Culture NHP
* James A. Garfield NHS
* William Howard Taft NHS

National monuments|

* Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers

National memorials|

* David Berger
* Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

National trails|

* North Country Trail

National forests|

* Wayne

National Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Big Darby Creek
* Little Beaver Creek
* Little Darby Creek
* Little Miami River

National Wildlife Refuges|

* Cedar Point
* Ottawa
* West Sister Island

National estuarine research reserve|

* Old Woman Creek

National Natural Landmarks|

* Brown's Lake Bog
* Cedar Bog
* Dysart Woods
* Fort Hill State Memorial
* Glen Helen Nature Preserve
* Mantua Bog State Nature Preserve
* Tinker's Creek Gorge

State|

| State parks|

* Adams Lake
* Alum Creek
* A. W. Marion
* Barkcamp
* Beaver Creek
* Blue Rock
* Buck Creek
* Buckeye Lake
* Burr Oak
* Caesar Creek
* Catawba Island
* Cleveland Lakefront
* Cowan Lake
* Deer Creek
* Delaware
* Dillon
* East Fork
* East Harbor
* Findley
* Forked Run
* Geneva
* Grand Lake St. Marys
* Great Council
* Great Seal
* Guilford Lake
* Harrison Lake
* Headlands Beach
* Hocking Hills
* Hueston Woods
* Independence Dam
* Indian Lake
* Jackson Lake
* Jefferson Lake
* John Bryan
* Kelleys Island
* Kiser Lake
* Lake Alma
* Lake Hope
* Lake Logan
* Lake Loramie
* Lake Milton
* Lake White
* Little Miami
* Madison Lake
* Malabar Farm
* Marblehead Lighthouse
* Mary Jane Thurston
* Middle Bass Island
* Maumee Bay
* Mohican
* Mosquito Lake
* Mount Gilead
* Muskingum River
* Nelson Kennedy Ledges
* Paint Creek
* Pike Lake
* Portage Lakes
* Punderson
* Pymatuning
* Quail Hollow
* Rocky Fork
* Salt Fork
* Scioto Trail
* Shawnee
* South Bass Island
* Stonelick
* Strouds Run
* Sycamore
* Tar Hollow
* Tinkers Creek
* Van Buren
* West Branch
* Wingfoot Lake
* Wolf Run

|

State forests|

* Beaver Creek
* Blue Rock
* Brush Creek
* Dean
* Fernwood
* Gifford
* Harrison
* Hocking
* Maumee
* Mohican-Memorial
* Perry
* Pike
* Richland Furnace
* Scioto Trail
* Shade River
* Shawnee
* Sunfish Creek
* Tar Hollow
* Yellow Creek
* Zaleski

State nature
preserves|

* Acadia Cliffs
* Adams Lake Prairie
* Audubon Islands
* Augusta-Anne Olsen
* Aurora Sanctuary
* Baker Woods
* Betsch Fen
* Bigelow Cemetery
* Blackhand Gorge
* Bonnet Pond
* Boord
* Brown's Lake Bog
* Burton Wetlands
* Caesar Creek Gorge
* Carmean Woods
* Cedar Bog
* Chaparral Prairie
* Christmas Rocks
* Clear Creek
* Clear Fork Gorge
* Clifton Gorge
* Compass Plant Prairie
* Conkle's Hollow
* Cooperrider-Kent Bog
* Crabill Fen
* Cranberry Bog
* Crane Hollow
* Crooked Run
* Culberson Woods
* Davey Woods
* Davis Memorial
* Drew Woods
* Dupont Marsh
* Eagle Creek
* Edward Thomas
* Emerald Hills
* Erie Sand Barrens
* Etawah Woods
* Evans Beck Memorial
* Flatiron Lake Bog
* Fowler Woods
* Frame Lake Fen
* Gahanna Woods
* Gallagher/Springfield Fen
* Goll Woods
* Goode Prairie
* Gott Fen
* Greenbelt
* Greenville Falls
* Gross Memorial Woods
* Hatch-Otis
* Halls Creek
* Headlands Dunes
* Howard Collier
* Hueston Woods
* Hutchins (Highland)
* Irwin Prairie
* Jackson Bog
* Johnson Ridge
* Johnson Woods
* Karlo Fen
* Kendrick Woods
* Kessler Swamp
* Kiser Lake Wetlands
* Kitty Todd
* Knox Woods
* Kyle Woods
* Ladd Natural Bridge
* Lake Katharine
* Lakeside Daisy
* Lawrence Woods
* Little Rocky Hollow
* Lou Campbell
* Mantua Bog
* Marie J. Desonier
* Marsh Wetlands
* McCracken Fen
* Mentor Marsh
* Milford Center Railroad Prairie
* Miller
* Morris Woods
* Mud Lake Bog
* Myersville
* Newberry
* North Pond
* North Shore Alvar
* Novak Sanctuary
* Old Woman Creek
* Owens/Liberty Fen
* Pallister
* Pickerington Ponds
* Portage Lakes Wetland
* Prairie Road Fen
* Raven Rock
* Rhododendeon Cove
* Riddle
* Rockbridge
* Rome
* Rothenbuhler Woods
* Saltpetre Cave
* Sears Woods
* Seymour Woods
* Shallenberger
* Sharon Woods Gorge
* Sheepskin Hollow
* Sheick Hollow
* Sheldon Marsh
* Shoemaker
* Siegenthaler-Kaestner Esker
* Smith Cemetery
* Spring Beauty Dell
* Spring Brook Sanctuary
* Springville Marsh
* Stage's Pond
* Strait Creek Prairie
* Stratford Woods
* Swamp Cottonwood
* Tinker's Creek
* Travertine Fen
* Triangle Lake Bog
* Trillium Trails
* Tummonds
* Walter Tucker
* Warder-Perkins
* Whipple
* White Pine Bog Forest
* William C. McCoy
* Zimmerman Prairie

State
scenic rivers|

* Big Darby Creek
* Chagrin River
* Conneaut Creek
* Cuyahoga River
* Grand River
* Greenville Creek
* Kokosing River
* Little Beaver Creek
* Little Darby Creek
* Little Miami River
* Maumee River
* Mohican River
* Olentangy River
* Sandusky River
* Stillwater River

Regional|

| Metro Parks|

* Ashtabula County Metroparks
* Cleveland Metroparks
* Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks
* Erie MetroParks
* Five Rivers MetroParks
* Geauga Park District
* Great Parks of Hamilton County
* Johnny Appleseed Metro Parks
* Lake Metroparks
* Lorain County Metro Parks
* Metroparks of Butler County
* Metroparks Toledo
* Mill Creek MetroParks
* Summit Metro Parks
* Trumbull County MetroParks

|

* Ohio Department of Natural Resources

* v
* t
* e

Hiking trails in Ohio

* American Discovery
* Buckeye
* Camp Chase
* Conotton Creek
* Hockhocking Adena
* Kokosing Gap
* Lebanon Countryside
* Little Miami
* Loveland
* Moonville
* North Country
* Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath
* Ohio to Erie
* Roberts Pass
* Scioto Greenway
* University/Parks
* Wabash Cannonball

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