One of our newest acquisitions, Deep Hollow-Dark Skies Preserve encompasses 110.6 acres in Athens County’s Carthage Township, about 13 miles east-southeast of Athens and 16 miles west of Belpre. Funded by a Clean Ohio grant with additional funds from generous community members, the preserve was established in late December 2020.
This important addition to the adjacent Morris Preserve consolidates a large area of closed-canopy forest in a township with very little public land. Due to its size, the quality of the diverse forest, and its location, Deep Hollow-Dark Skies Preserve expands and protects a significant tract of Ohio forest. Preserving the land there also protects pristine stream quality, riparian and hillside deciduous forest, vernal pool wetlands, and a dark-sky area from development and exploitation pressures occurring in the region.
The Deep Hollow-Dark Skies name emphasizes the preserve’s diverse topography, reaching from a clear stream with rare darters at the bottom of the gorge, to the high ridge-top that provides wonderful night-time celestial viewing. In between is a hardwood forest dotted with rock ledges and sandstone slump blocks. Click the map you want below to view, download and print a jpg version (for a pdf of the topo click here or for a pdf aerial click here).
Volunteer Preserve Steward: Tom Reid
