Green Wood Trail

Wayne National Forest

Green Wood Trail / Scenic River Loop

June 2021

Backpack Ohio Website (with downloadable trail map)

The trailhead for this one is located on Ohio Route 7, almost exactly 5 miles north of the bridge spanning the Ohio River between Newport, Ohio and Saint Mary's, West Virginia. To give you an idea, this hike took me 5 hours to complete and I'll speak in general terms when I state that the Green Wood Trail is basically a loop which requires part of the Scenic River Trial for completion. I started on the Green Wood for about 7 miles and then intersected with the Scenic River Trial on the return for a total of about 8.5 miles. What follows is a little more detial along with some photos...

First a note: If you come out here in June as I did, you'll probably want to bring some mosquito netting to cover your face. Necessity had me putting mine on quite quickly and when I later took it off a couple times for only about 30 seconds I had a gnat fly directly into my eye each time - no lie! When I hike in the summer I also always wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt as well. Hey, a little sweating is healthy for you! :) Besides, this provides good protection from bugs as well as barbs.

Anyway, when you arrive at this trailhead (directions at the bottom) you'll park in one of a few spaces they have in a little gravel parking lot. The trail then begins behind the little brown building you'll see. A grassy walk through a vine covered woodsy area will ensue and this section smelled really nice at this time of year. The aroma may have emanated from some of the vines that had flowered. I'm not a huge fan of vines as I've seen certain varieties pull down trees and suffocate them, yet these smelled nice anyway.

Vines are really threatening our forests though. This year, 2021, I've noticed for the first time on every hike that a certain species of thorned vine has sprouted up everywhere (although not the kind seen in the photo above). It's emerged from here to Mountwood Park in West Virginia to Natural Bridge in Kentucky and at least all the way down to Pickett State Park in Tennessee. The vast majority of these vines appear to be only a few years old, yet I know that these are the tree threatening kind as I've seen the same variety run up certain trees from all directions and actually bow them over. Dealing with all of these vines would be a monumental task, however, and so the situation could be dire if the seemingly pronounced growth continues unabated.

At any rate, you'll soon commence an ascent along a series of switchbacks and about 1/2 way up to the top you'll reach your first real trail intersection. The Scenic River Trail will head to the right to continue uphill and the Green Wood Trail will go left. I'll be describing the latter route from here, but I can tell you that if you go right you'll proceed to the top of the hill where you'll encounter the best Ohio River overlook in this section near some large boulders. About a mile later you'll meet back up with the other end of Green Wood Trail where I'll be coming out. If you went even further you'd come to the County Road 9 trailhead. You could go even further still. Indeed, you could easily get lost out here. The trails go on and on. In fact, the North Country Trail runs 53 miles!

Back to the Green Wood Trail... From the intersection mentioned above you'll head left. This is a fairly level section along the side of a hill which will provide you with some Ohio River views. These are fairly limited with all the foliage but this is still a pretty area.

Note in the photo above that you'll soon be curving to the right and away from the river. You're heading into the "back country" as I call it, not to return to the river until the end of the hike. What's interesting from here is that there seem to be a variety of forest settings. I wish I was more familiar with the different varieties of trees, but the forest does seem to shift at various occasions from here on out. You'll see some caves and rock outcroppings too, like the ones below....

And below is a photo that shows just how dense the trail can get in certain sections. It's nice, but I think you can see the necessity for bug repellent!

Soon you'll have a stream crossing and when you see some boards nailed up a tree as if for a one-time playhouse on your left you'll know that you're at about the 1/3 mark of the hike. You're nearing County Road 14 where you'll come close to some dwellings. I'm never too comfortable in such situations so I stay as quiet as possible and keep moving on. What you're going to do here is cross a little clearing (which may actually be an old roadway) and then you're going to span a stream, after which you'll head right, or upstream. I startled a fairly large snake in here that quickly darted away. It looked like a water mocassin. Anyway, keep an eye out for the yellow trial markers and you'll be OK as far as direction. They've done a good job of marking this trail.

From here you'll follow along the creek for quite a while. It'll stay on your right but later you'll cross it at a point which will coincide with you're meeting the aforementioned North Country Trail (a.k.a. the NCT). I noted a very old stone fence just prior to this point. I couldn't get a good picture through all the foliage that had covered it, but it was a reminder that you're passing through some old homesteads out here! There was also an interesting mushroom colony along a tree here.

Anyway, please note that the NCT is not one that you'll want to follow from this point unless you're an overnighter. As mentioned, it's 53 miles long! Thus, at the point where you see the first sign below you'll want to stay quite alert. Note that your trail markers are yellow with a green circle in the middle and that the NCT markings are in blue. You can clearly see these different trail markings in the second photo and what you'll want to do is make two right turns in quick succession following the yellow markers.

You've probably come around 5 miles by this point and if you're like me you'll have started to tire a little with an accompanying decrease in sensation, if not in awareness. This is the point at which I think you start to become part of the environment instead of just an observer of it. For me, my appreciation of nature has seemed to evolve into a form of thankful prayer which merges with nature's praise of the Creator. In fact, when I arrive back at my destination after these trips I find that I've also reached the point of near complete sensory deadness and forgetfulness. On my paddling trips, in particular, I'll even pass things that I completely forgot about passing earlier in the day!

After roughly another 1 1/2 miles you'll reach the intersection with the Scenic River Trail. You'll be heading to the right here to return to your car, but this last part of the trip will actually take you through some oil rigs and related equipment. You'll be able to smell oil too!

The scene below is where I think the best overlook is and it's a good spot to enjoy for a while, for you'll now be entering into the final part of the hike on a switchback descent. If you have time the Leith Run Campground is worth checking out. It's right down the road less than a mile down. Leith Run has some beautiful views that you can check out from gazebo's they have set up along the stream. Indeed, you could cross the road and continue there along the Scenic River Trail.

DIRECTIONS:

This trailhead is on Ohio Route 7 along the Ohio River almost exactly 5 miles north of the Newport, OH/Saint Mary's, WV Bridge. It'll be on the left side if you're coming from the South and if you get to the Leith's Run Campground or the Frontier Boat Launch you've gone just a little too far. The Backpack Ohio site above has better and more comprehensive directions.