Archer's Fork

Archer's Fork is located in the Wayne National Forest, thirty miles northeast of Mariatta, Ohio. The trail uses part of the North Country Trail along with a connecting trail that makes a nice 9.5 mile loop trail. The terrian is very rugged with steep trips to the valley floor and back up to the ridges. You will cross several forest roads so be aware of moving vehicles. These roads have limited traffic, but you should use caution when approaching them by hooking up your JRT's. This loop travels through large hardwood forests, past several caves and a natural stone bridge. Several old gas and oil well pumps still remain in the area from days gone by.

We left the trailhead after removing a tick from Nitro. We started hiking east or clockwise and quickly found the first cave. The cave had a large opening and was very deep. The trail then headed into one of the many valleys and creeks. The creeks had deep pools than made excellent swimming holes for Jack Russell Terriers. We hiked for three hours and stopped for lunch. After lunch we started up the steepest slope of the hike, resting half way up. Near the top everyone started getting stung by yellow jackets as we unexpectingly hike past a large hole by the trail. Yellow jackets release a chemical when they sting you. This survival technique alerts the rest of the nest to the danger. It also makes you the prime target if you stay in the area. We ran up the trail with yellow jacks hunting us down as far as a half a mile up the trail. Buzz was the only one to escape from the yellow jackets without being stung. Nitro and Bandit were given a half of a Benadrill tablet which stopped any swelling. We passed another cave which looked inhabited, and we also passed a natural rock bridge. Natural rock bridges are rare in Ohio. This is one of only seven in the entire state. This was a long hike that required over six and a half hours to complete, and everyone was dog tired afterwards.