Rutherford Wetland

Athens Ranger District

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Contact Us

The Athens District of the Wayne National 

Forest has an office in Nelsonville to serve 

visitors. Office hours are 8 - 4:30 Monday 

through Friday. 

Athens Ranger District

13700 U.S. Hwy 33

Nelsonville, OH 45764

Phone: 740-753-0101

Federal relay system for the deaf and hearing 

impaired: 1-800-877-8339

website: www.fs.usda.gov/wayne

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/waynenationalforest 

______________________________

USDA is an equal opportunity provider 

and employer.

Welcome to the Wayne

This fully accessible 1/2 mile hiking trail is the 

newest trail on Athens District of the Wayne

National Forest. The surfaced trail is built on an 

abandoned railroad bed. 

The first portion of the trail lies between the wetland and the Monday Creek bottomland. Further down the trail, visitors will walk through a 

pine plantation, a hardwood forest, and along a 

pond.

To make your visit more enjoyable:

• Please stay on the trail.

• If you bring a dog, please keep it on a leash.

• Take only photographs; leave only footprints. 

• Do not remove historic artifacts along the trail

 such as bricks: they are protected by law.

• Never approach too closely or feed wildlife.

• Use caution during hunting seasons. Blaze 

orange clothing is recommended during deer 

gun seasons.

Wayne National Forest

Ora E. Anderson 

Nature Trail

Forest

Service

FS-R9-036

05/2015
Ora E. Anderson Photograph by Michael Rubenstein

Ora E. Anderson 1911 - 2006

This nature trail is named for local conservationist, artist, nature writer, and poet Ora E. 

Anderson. Anderson spent a lifetime sharing his 

enthusiasm and keen observations about nature 

with friends and strangers alike. He especially 

loved to blend anecdotes from almost a century 

of living in or near the Appalachian foothills 

with informed opinions about how to nurture 

and protect natural areas in Ohio.

As a reporter and editor for the Jackson (Ohio) 

Herald in the 1930s, Anderson was an alert eyewitness to the Great Depression and the creation 

during that period of the Wayne National Forest. 

He relates these events as well as the subsequent 

70 years of reforestation, with empathy, insight, 

and joy in the video documentary, “A Forest 

Returns: The Success Story of Ohio’s Only National Forest as told by Ora E. Anderson.”

Ora continued into his retirement years to be 

involved in various organizations, and was an 

active participant during more than fifty years 

of public meetings regarding Wayne National 

Forest land management. Since 1961, his own 

homestead received Tree Farm designation by 

the American Tree Farm System. Ora served 

as President of the Ohio Forestry Association 

and Trustee and Chairman of The Nature Conservancy of Ohio. He was also inducted into 

the Ohio Department of Natural Resources 

Hall of Fame, the state’s highest conservation 

honor. Photograph by Deborah Griffith

Ora enjoying a good story.

Poetry and Art

Ora Anderson wrote the poetry that you will 

see on signs along the trail. His friend, local 

artist Barbara Sheriff Kostohryz of Athens, 

created the watercolor artwork which illustrates the poetry and signage as well as this 

brochure.

The Mineral Railroad 

This trail was once part of the Columbus and 

Hocking Valley Railroad and was also known 

as the Mineral Railroad. It was built in the late 

1860s and followed the Hocking River Valley 

from Columbus to Athens. 

In 1870 this Monday Creek branch spur was 

built through the upper reaches of the Monday 

Creek watershed from Logan and Nelsonville to 

a new town site named New Straitsville. 

In 1910 the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad bought this railroad and shipped coal from 

West Virginia to the Great Lakes. In 1930 the 

Chesapeake and Ohio merged all the Hocking 

Valley Railroad into the C&O system. This spur 

remained in operation until the early 1950s. 

The trail follows one of the most significant early 

railroads in the area, as its construction permitted a marked increase in the exploitation of coal, 

a key resource from our region’s rich mineral 

wealth. If you look closely along the trail, you 

may find a railroad marker or two; remnants of 

the historic landscape. 

C&O Engine No. 2956 in 1947. Engine is former 

Hocking Valley F-1 No. 136. Photo shows corner of 

coaling station. Photo by Paul W. Prescott.
Rutherford Wetland, located in the Monday 

Creek floodplain, has an interesting history. 

The land is part of Ward Township, organized 

in 1836. The bottomlands along Monday Creek 

were cleared for farming.

As the Mineral Railroad expanded, and the railroad line built to haul timber and coal from New 

Straitsville, the hydrology of the floodplain began changing. The railroad bed caused water to 

backup onto the farm fields—not just during the 

spring floods, but throughout the year. Farmers 

could no longer use the fields to grow crops, and 

after a period of time, the fields were allowed to 

grow back into brush and trees. 

The Forest Service acquired this bottomland 

area in the early 1990s. Today, a shrub-scrub 

wetland can be found alongside a secondgrowth floodplain forest. 

Beaver soon moved into the area and dammed 

the culvert that once drained part of the field. 

Water further backed up into the area creating a 

diverse wetland. 

Vernal pools can be found on either side 

of the old railroad bed. These depressions 

or low areas fill with water seasonally 

and provide habitat for frogs, toads, and 

salamanders.

The list of frogs and toads that have been 

heard at Rutherford are: spring peeper, 

pickerel frog, green frog, common gray 

tree frog, bull frog, northern leopard frog, 

wood frog, Cope’s gray tree frog, and 

American toad.

Snags within the Rutherford Wetland provide roosting and nesting habitat for several bird species. 

The Rutherford Wetland

Bird Checklist for Rutherford Wetland

The following birds have been observed at the Rutherford Wetland 

during our springtime breeding bird survey. Let us know if you see or 

hear other species.

Herons

*Great Blue Heron

*Green Heron

Ducks, Geese & Swans

*Canada Goose

*Wood Duck

*Mallard

Pigeons & Doves

*Mourning Dove

Cuckoos

*Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Goatsuckers

*Whip-poor-will

Woodpeckers

*Downy Woodpecker

*Hairy Woodpecker

*Northern Flicker

*Pileated Woodpecker

*Red-bellied Woodpecker

Cedar waxwing

Green heron

Wrens

*Carolina Wren

*House wren

Gnatcatchers

*Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Thrushes

*American Robin

*Eastern Bluebird

*Gray Catbird

*Wood Thrush

Waxwings

*Cedar Waxwing

Starlings

*European Starling

Tanagers

*Scarlet Tanager

Swifts & Hummingbirds

*Chimney Swift

*Ruby-throated Hummingbird
vNature Watch

Wildlife watching opportunities abound at Ruth-

erford Wetland and along the Ora E. Anderson 

Nature Trail. Plan to bring your binoculars. 

How to Get There?

Rutherford Wetland is located on the 

western part of the Athens Unit. From 

U. S. Highway 33 (near Haydenville, 

Ohio) take State Route 595 north for 2.8 

miles. Turn onto State Route 278 and 

travel for 1.8 miles. Follow the sign 

to the parking area for the wetland and 

nature trail.

Beaver are 

responsible for 

building and 

maintaining the 

Rutherford Wet-

land.

Great blue heron

Canada geese

Hairy woodpecker

Wood Warblers

*American Redstart

*Blue-winged Warbler

*Cerulean Warbler

*Common Yellowthroat

*Hooded Warbler

*Kentucky Warbler

*Northern Parula

*Ovenbird

*Prothonotary Warbler

*Yellow-breasted Chat

*Yellow-throated Warbler

*Yellow Warbler

Sparrows & Finches

*American Goldfinch

*Eastern Towhee

*Indigo Bunting

*Northern Cardinal

*Song Sparrow

Blackbirds

*Baltimore Oriole

*Brown-headed Cowbird

*Common Grackle

*Orchard Oriole

*Red-winged Blackbird

Flycatchers

*Acadian Flycatcher

*Eastern Kingbird

*Eastern Phoebe

*Eastern Wood Pewee

*Willow Flycatcher

Vireos

*Red-eyed Vireo

*Warbling Vireo

*White-eyed Vireo

*Yellow-throated Vireo

Crows & Jays

*American Crow

*Blue Jay

Swallows

*Tree Swallow

Chickadees, Titmice & Nut-

hatches

*Carolina Chickadee

*Tufted Titmouse

*White-breasted Nuthatch