Zaleski State Forest ATV/OHV
Zaleski State Forest encompasses 26,000 acres of rugged hill country in Vinton County, southeastern Ohio, the heart of the Appalachian coal country that defines Ohio's most topographically dramatic landscape. The state forest ATV trail system is one of Ohio's most established public-land off-road riding destinations, threading through the heavily forested ridges and hollow drains of the Raccoon Creek watershed that cuts through the forest. Vinton County is Ohio's least populated and most heavily forested county, and Zaleski's ATV trails exist in a landscape that looks and feels nothing like the farmland and suburban sprawl that defines most of the state: the steep-sided ridges, narrow hollows, second-growth hardwood forest of oak, hickory, and maple, and the abandoned strip mine and coal drift terrain that persists across the ODNR land base are the hallmarks of Zaleski trail riding. The trail system covers designated single-track and wider corridors through the forest, with difficulty varying from moderate fire road riding to more challenging technical terrain on the ridge-to-hollow traversals. ATVs and off-highway motorcycles are the primary permitted machine class; UTVs are accommodated on appropriate wider sections. Ohio ATV registration is required for all machines; no per-day trail fee applies beyond the registration. The Zaleski State Forest office near McArthur (740-596-5781) manages current trail status, seasonal closures, and publishes hunting season closure dates, deer and turkey seasons create periodic full-closure windows that OHV visitors must plan around. The Wayne National Forest's Monday Creek OHV system is approximately 15 miles northeast of Zaleski, and riders with multiple days can access both public-land systems from a single base camp in the Vinton/Athens county area.