For More Information:

The Marietta Unit office of the Athens Ranger 

District is open from 8 - 4:30 Monday through 

Friday.

Marietta Unit, Athens Ranger District

27515 State Route 7

Marietta, OH 45750

Phone: 740-373-9055

Federal relay: 1-800-877-8339

website: www.usda.gov/wayne

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/waynenationalforest 

The USDA is an equal opportunity provider, 

employer, and lender. 

R\

Vicinity Map

This is Rinard Covered Bridge, built in 1875,

Take a few minutes to look around and make your 

wish! 

Ghost stories and legends are part of the legacy

of some covered bridges. Ten miles north at stop 

#8 you’ll have a chance to “bridge” past to present. Turn right at the sign for Knowlton Bridge.

STOP #8 - Knowlton Bridge

Remember the legend of Sleepy Hollow? The 

sight of some back-road covered bridges today 

reminds us of the ghost stories and legends that 

tingled the scalp of many a small child who 

walked its gloomy length as the sun was sinking 

from sight. For some, it recalls old yarns, like the 

one about the “rube heading into Pittsburgh from a 

small town in Ohio who, upon reaching a covered 

bridge over the Allegheny, saw that the entrance 

was large enough for his load, but considered 

the hole at the other end entirely too small, and 

headed back home again!” What memories or 

feelings do covered bridges bring out in you?

To reach Stop #9 turn right in 0.7 mile at the sign 

for Ring Mill. Follow the road approximately 4 

miles.You will return to SR 26 after this stop.

STOP #9 - Ring Mill House

A miller by trade, Walter Ring and his wife 

Margaret purchased this land in 1840, when they 

started working on the stone house you see here. 

In 1848 they replaced an old grist mill on this site 

with a new one. They also added a sawmill in 

1850, and operated it until 

the 1920’s when the

mills were both damaged by 

floods. The house is listed 

on the National Register of 

Historic Places.

To reach Stop #10, turn left at the sign for Lamping

Homestead (SR 537). Continue approximately 1 

mile, then turn left on Township Rd. 307. Turn left 

again into the parking lot.

Wayne National Forest

National Forest 

Covered Bridge 

Scenic Byway

Forest

Service

FS-R9-056

02/2016

STOP #10

For the Lamping family, 

life was hard. Imagine, you 

would have to build your 

own house, clear your land 

for farming, grow your own 

food, and create your own 

entertainment. With no doctors nearby, what would you do if someone became 

really ill? New beginnings were a lot of hard work 

and not always successful. The small cemetery 

located nearby is all that remains as testimony to 

the hardships of trying to raise a family on an early 

homestead.

Stop #10 (Lamping Homestead) is the end of the 

tour. Return to Marietta along SR 26, or take SR 

260 east to SR 7 South, which follows the Ohio 

River, or continue north on SR 26 to Woodsfield.

The Land Speaks? As you drive along, you 

have seen forests mixed with farm land. Once in 

the late 1800’s there was an active logging industry 

here, and most of the trees were cut down. 

After the area was logged, farmers plowed and 

planted the denuded hill tops. The soil quickly 

eroded away, and within a few decades, the farms 

could not produce on worn out eroded soils.

Today, with a good knowledge of soil and water 

conservation, forestry, and vegetation management, 

these problems are under control. 

The End - You saw and learned about the rich 

heritage of many communities that the Covered 

Bridge Scenic Byway travels through. You saw 

one of Harley Warricks’ “national treasures” and 

learned why covered bridges are covered. We hope 

that you enjoyed your visit and will come again. 

Brochures were partly funded 

with a Recreational Trails 

Program (RTP) grant.
Welcome to the National Forest Covered Bridge Scenic Byway!

What do Mail Pouch Tobacco barns, oil wells, and 

covered bridges have in common? They are part 

of southeast Ohio’s landscape, and things you can 

discover along the Covered Bridge Scenic Byway.

Introduction. This brochure is a guide 

to 35 miles of scenery and history along 

the Little Muskingum River. Look for 

tour markers to lead you to each of the 

ten stops. The route map shows the approximate location of each stop.

Length? The tour takes about 4 hours, 

plus 1 hour to return to Marietta. For a shorter tour 

omit Stops #9 and #10 and return by State Route 

(SR) 260.

Amenities. Restrooms (non-flush) are available at 

Lane Farm, Hune Bridge, Lamping Homestead, 

and Ring Mill Recreation Sites. The recreation 

sites do not have drinking water. Gas, food and 

beverages can be purchased in Marietta, Woodsfield, New Matamoras, and a local store, located 

approximately 0.5 miles up from Ohio 537 (towards Lamping Homestead).

To begin. From Interstate 77, take Exit 1 (SR 7). 

Go south towards Marietta. Tum right at Acme 

Street (the first light). Acme St ends at Greene 

Street. Turn right on Greene St (SR 26). Follow 

SR 26 approximately 5 miles. The Scenic Byway 

begins here. Turn right on County Road 333 to the 

first tour stop. A small parking area is at the south 

end of the bridge, at the corner of Zion Ridge Road.

STOP#1 - Hills Covered Bridge

Covered bridges .... Ohio once had more of these

than any other state: over 2000 of them! The 

national leader today is Pennsylvania. You’ll be 

able to visit four covered bridges along this byway. 

The first is called Hills Covered Bridge, and was 

built in 1878 by Hocking Valley Bridge Works. It 

features a Howe truss. To learn more about what 

a “truss” is, take a look at the interpretive exhibit 

panel located near the parking area. To return to 

the Scenic Byway, turn right on County Road 333, 

then right on SR 26. Follow SR 26 north for the 

rest of the tour.

Your next stop will lead you past one of Harley

Warrick’s National Treasures, about 4 miles north 

on SR 26. This stop will give you something to chew 

on! Watch for tour stop marker #2.

STOP#2 - Mail Pouch Barn

Harley Warrick was discharged from the Army in

1946 at the end of World War II. About that time, 

Mail Pouch Tobacco barn painters came to paint 

the barn on his family’s farm, and they had an 

opening on one of their teams: $28 a week base 

pay plus 1.5 cents a square foot production incentive. His take home pay could be as much as $32 

a week! Two to three barns a day, six days a week 

was his pace for the first twenty years. Today, the 

barn paintings are considered “landmark signs” of 

historic or artistic significance.

Our next stop will be 7 miles north at another 

covered bridge. Watch for tour marker #3 and #4. 

Tum right, cross the bridge, to the Forest Service 

parking area. The bridge height clearance is 6’8”.

STOP#3 - Hune Covered Bridge

Do you know why covered bridges were covered?

To keep the rain or snow off travelers, or perhaps 

to protect the plank roadways of the bridges? No... 

roofs were put on the bridges to keep the main 

structural timbers dry. Solid as they look, they 

would quickly rot 

if left exposed to 

rains, and then 

scorched by the 

sun. 

This is Hune Covered Bridge, built in 1879, 

with a 12 panel long truss. Take some time to 

look around. Your next stop (Stop #4) is the oil 

pump located here in the parking area. After 

you visit the bridge take a few minutes to learn 

about our oil and gas history.

STOP#4 - Oil Well

They weren’t looking 

for oil, when Ohio’s 

petroleum industry 

was launched in 1814. 

They were drilling for 

brine near the village 

of South Olive, not 

far from here. But 

brine and oil shot out 

of the hole. The well was a failure for brine, but 

the high gravity oil was used in lamps. In the 

early 1800’s there wasn’t a big market for oil, 

and some people called it “devil’s grease.”

As you have been driving along SR 26 you 

probably noticed the gas and oil wells that dot 

the landscape. Some of these wells go down 

into the ground one or two miles! You might 

also notice that the pumps are not always pumping. It takes the oil a little while to seep into the 

wells. The pump may run for only a few hours a 

day, producing a few barrels of oil each month. 

The oil is pumped to large storage tanks, then 

taken to refineries for processing.

Your next stop is the Hune House, just a short 

drive from here. Return to SR 26 and tum right. 

You can’t miss the large white house on the left 

side of the road, and tour stop marker #5. Tum 

left into the driveway of the Hune House. Immediately tum left again, and park.

STOP#5 - Hune House

Part of the Inn Crowd? If you were visiting this

area in the late 1800’s you might have been. At 

a time when most of their neighbors in this remote area of the country were living in small log 

or frame buildings, the Hune house was a landmark. Built in two sections by William Hune, 

an early settler in the community of Lawrence, 

the first part of the house was built in 1885 and 

the addition built in 1889. The Hunes likely took 

in boarders, and the house was locally called 

“Hune Inn”. The house has been restored as a 

private home.

What’s in store for you next? Stop #6 is the old 

Myers General Store, 2 miles north on the left 

side of the road. Look for the tour stop marker 

ad parking area on the right.

STOP#6 - General Store

A communications network was one of the many

roles of the old country store. The Myers General 

Store served this community from 1865-2004. In 

the “old” days, residents could send and pick up 

their mail here, and use the only telephone in the 

area. Times have changed, but country stores are 

still important in small communities and this one 

is sorely missed. 

Your next stop is 1 mile up the road on the right. 

Discover more about covered bridge 

history. Look for tour stop marker #7.

STOP#7 - Rinard Covered Bridge

Covered bridges were masterpieces of engineering

 - but horse and buggy America called them 

“kissing bridges.” Their dark interiors proved 

ideal for what a later generation was to refer to 

as “spooning.” They were also called wishing

bridges, since everyone knows that a wish made 

in a covered bridge always comes true. (cont.)