Zaleski State Forest Backpack Trail (Selinde Roosenburg Memorial)

Zaleski State Forest, Ohio Division of Forestry (around Lake Hope State Park)

Zaleski State Forest covers 27,822 acres in Vinton, Athens, and Hocking counties, and BackpackOhio calls it Ohio’s second-largest state forest. It wraps around Lake Hope State Park, and its backpack trail, renamed the Selinde Roosenburg Memorial Backpack Trail, is one of three state forest backpack trails listed in the Division of Forestry’s statewide guide.

The trail is built for flexibility: a full loop of about 29 miles, or shorter sub-loops that make easy overnights.

The hike

The Division of Forestry’s map breaks the trail into three loops: the South Loop at 9.3 miles, the West Loop at 8.8 miles, and the North Loop at 6.9 miles, with the full circuit about 29 miles to and from the Hope Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse trailhead, added in 2016 according to the ODNR property page, connects to the main trail by a 2-mile link and to the Moonville Rail Trail. The older Iron Furnace trailhead on State Route 278 is still used, though BackpackOhio says that lot “tends to flood after significant rain events.” Orange blazes mark the main loops and white blazes the connectors to camps and water.

Public Lands calls the South Loop the most popular choice and lays it out as a three-day trip from the Iron Furnace lot: about 2 miles to the first camp, 4.4 miles to the second, and a 4.1-mile finish. Backpacker’s 2013 route on the South and Middle loops starts past sandstone walls with iron-rich water seeping from their bases, crosses a creek near old farm ruins and Route 278, and passes a cottonwood-lined pond that once served an 1870s mining town. It notes pawpaws in the low areas in late summer.

History is close at hand. Hope Furnace, which operated from 1854 to 1874, sits across Route 278 from the day-hike trailhead, and BackpackOhio says the surrounding forest was cut for charcoal to fuel it. The Doolittle plantation, planted starting in 1906, is described as Ohio’s earliest example of professional forestry. Backpacker mentions a rocky outcrop above the old railroad grade to Moonville Tunnel, which local legend says is haunted; reaching the tunnel takes about 0.3 mile of off-trail walking.

BackpackOhio rates the hiking “moderately difficult,” with some steep sections but no climb over about 300 feet, and says the trail is easy to follow but overgrown in places. Weekends can fill both the trailhead lots and the camps, so it suggests weekdays in spring and fall. The forest’s map warns of greenbriar, poison ivy, ticks, stinging nettles, venomous snakes, and late-summer hornets, and says shorts are not recommended.

For a longer, hillier southern Ohio trip, see the Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail; for a shorter one, the Logan Trail at Tar Hollow.

Tips

Register before you start. Free self-registration permits are at the trailhead parking areas 24 hours a day; keep the stub with you.
Move camp each night. The forest’s rules require it.
Carry some water. Camps have water caches, but ODNR says winter service isn’t guaranteed.
Skip orange streams. Public Lands says acid mine drainage in some streams is beyond what a filter can fix.
Wear long pants and check for ticks.
Wear orange in hunting season. The forest is open to hunting.
Go midweek if you can; weekend camps fill.

Camping

Camping is allowed only in the designated backpack camps shown on the forest map, first come, first served, with no reservations (ODNR). A free self-registration permit is required of every hiker and must be filled out before entering the trail, at either the Hope Schoolhouse or Iron Furnace trailhead. The map’s rules limit stays to 14 days in any 30-day period, require moving to a different camp each day, allow leashed pets, set quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and allow fires only in designated fire rings or portable stoves, never unattended. Each camp has a latrine and a water cache. Pack out all trash.

Inside Intel: Backpacker (2013) chose what it then called Campground H for its first night, “under the hickories, oaks, and maples,” with water and a latrine nearby, and Campground C for night two because it has “large, flat sites” and a water spigot close by. The camps have since been relabeled on the forest map, so match them up before you go.

Trail facts

Distance: About 29 miles for the full loop; South Loop 9.3 to 10.5 miles depending on the source and trailhead
Route type: Loop with South, West, and North sub-loops
Difficulty: Moderate
Campsites: Three designated backpack camps (Camp 1, 2 and 3 on the forest map), each with a latrine
Water: Trucked-in cisterns near each camp; may not be serviced in winter; carry some
Permits: Free self-registration at the trailhead; no reservations
Fires: Designated fire rings or stoves only
Dogs: Allowed, leashed or under control
Trailhead: Hope Schoolhouse (Wheelabout Road) or Iron Furnace on State Route 278
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

A flooded lot at Iron Furnace:

BackpackOhio says the Iron Furnace trailhead lot tends to flood after significant rain. If you're starting there in wet weather, see how three rain shells compare.

Read the comparison →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.