Many of the vacation cabins at Salt Fork State Park offer spectacular views of Salt Fork Lake (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

Salt Fork State Park is Ohio’s largest state park, with more than 17,000 acres of land and nearly 3,000 acres of water. It’s also allegedly home to the legendary Bigfoot, with dozens of sightings reported since the 1980s.

Located just east of Cambridge near Lore City, Salt Fork State Park is a place of forested hills, open meadows and valleys with winding streams. Salt Fork Lake offers two marinas and eight launch ramps, along with good catches of largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, walleye and muskie.

The park offers a trail system with a variety of lengths and levels of difficulty. Those interested in local history can visit the historic Kennedy Stone House. Sports enthusiasts will be challenged by a top-rated 18-hole golf course, a 27-hole disc golf course and a 12-station archery range.

The park’s 2,500-foot swimming beach is one of the largest inland beaches in Ohio.  A new concession stand, changing rooms, showers, restrooms and pavilions are currently under construction at the beach area.

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Overnight accommodations include the full-service Salt Fork Resort Lodge and Conference Center with 148 rooms and 53 vacation cabins. The park’s 274-site campground includes 20 full hookup sites, 190 electric only sites and 22 primitive sites, plus equestrian campsites. The campground includes a camp office and store, gemstone mining, showerhouses and restrooms.

So with all this going for it, Salt Fork is becoming well known as an epicenter for Bigfoot enthusiasts. In 2012, the park was named one of America’s Top 10 “Squatchiest” places by USA Today. The park hosts an annual event dedicated to Bigfoot each May.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, plans for developing the lake began in 1956. The reservoir was originally slated to become a water source for the city of Cambridge, but the potential for the area to become a major recreation area in the state was so great that, in 1960, land acquisition was begun to create a state park. The earthen dam was completed in 1967 and construction of recreational facilities began in mid-1968. Salt Fork Lodge was opened in May 1972.

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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