Camping next to the Clear Fork of the Mohican River is one way to enjoy Mohican State Park. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

We’re returning to Mohican Country for the second part of exploring this area. This time the focus is on Mohican State Park and Malabar Farm State Park.

Both state parks have much to offer, from camping next to gurgling streams and exploring waterfalls to staying in luxurious surroundings at the state park lodge.

There are also many privately owned campgrounds, canoe liveries and RV parks in very popular part of Ohio. You can find out about all of these places at DIscoverMohican.com. Although many of the warm-weather attractions limit their hours or close for the season, there’s still plenty to do.

Mohican State Park’s wild landscape offers thousands of forested acres featuring Clear Fork Gorge, Lyon’s Falls, and the Clear Fork of the Mohican River. Overnight accommodations include a modern full-service lodge, a large, well-appointed family campground with pool, deluxe vacation cabins, basic cabins, primitive camping and stream-side campsites.

Nearby Pleasant Hill Lake, which is managed by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, offers boating with no horsepower limits. A portion of the lake is no-wake speed, enjoyed by paddlers and anglers alike. Pleasant Hill Lake Campground is also managed by the MWCD.

Located in Pleasant Valley in Richland County, Malabar Farm was the culmination of a dream of Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize winning author, screenwriter and conservationist, to demonstrate sustainable agriculture.

Click on the link above to view this week’s video tour. If the embedded video does not appear in the email, please use this link – https://youtu.be/HO9CkETBBo4

Bromfield lived at the farm from the late 1930s until his passing in 1956 and invited many of his Hollywood friends to visit and work on the farm. He wrote about many of his experiences there in the books Malabar Farm and Pleasant Valley. The park has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

Visitors can see the farm, tour the Big House (where Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married in 1945), hike nature trails, enjoy the view from Mt. Jeez, and take part in recreational activities just as they did in Bromfield’s time. As a working farm, guests can meet a variety of animals raised on the farm and browse Malabar Farm products available for purchase.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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