4 July 2015
Lake #49 Lake
Hope, Lake Hope State Park, Vinton County
Lake Hope is one of my favorite lakes in Ohio. This was my
third visit to the lake but my first during my kayaking BHAG. Lake Hope has a
special feel to it, almost as if an Indian medicine man placed a blessing on it
many years ago. Although it was the 4th of July holiday and many
people were there, the lake still retained its peacefulness. I jokingly told my
husband that it was like there was a dome of calmness covering the lake. There
wasn’t the noise you find at other lakes. I believe that the lake’s restriction
to boats with electric motors is a large reason for its special tranquility.
People do not come to Lake Hope to zoom around the lake; they come to the lake
to slow down and relax.
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| Calm Lake Hope |
The Zaleski State Forest, which is the second largest state
forest in Ohio at 28,000 acres (the largest is the Shawnee State Forest at
60,000 acres), surrounds Lake Hope State Park adding to its remote feel. The
park is located approximately 15 miles south of Nelsonville via State Route
278. 2,983-acre Lake Hope State Park started as Lake Hope Forest Park back in
1937. Then, it became Lake Hope State Park in 1949 with the creation of the
Ohio Department of Natural Resources. This area was part of the Hanging Rock
Iron Region that I wrote about in my blog for Lake Vesuvius (Lake #5). The Lake
Hope Furnace is located near the park’s entrance. Most of the forest in this
area was cut to provide fuel for the iron smelting needs of the furnace but the
land has recovered and a new second-growth forest has taken its place. The
furnace is worth a quick visit while you are at the park.
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| Lake Hope Furnace |
Lake Hope has a single boat ramp located on its south shore
off State Route 278, east of the dam. The
parking area is level with the road but the ramp is not visible from the road. On a previous visit, I looked at putting in
at the swimming beach, located off Park Road 12, but it would be quite a hike
from the parking area. The boat ramp was very slippery. I think it is strange how some boat ramps are
so slippery you can barely stand while others are fine, one of life’s great mysteries.
After putting in, I paddled north. It was wonderful to see so many people out
on the water having a great time. You can rent kayaks, canoes, and fishing
boats at the concession stand and it looked like many people were doing so.
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| View Near Boat Ramp, I had a Picnic Lunch Before Heading Out on the Water |
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| My Favorite Sign, Located in Parking Lot By Ramp |
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| Long Ramp With No Turn Around |
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| Boat Ramp Should Have A Slippery When Wet Sign |
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| Paddling Backward From the Boat Ramp, Yep I Went in Backward |
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| My Hubby and Paddling Buddy with Dam in the Background |
On prior visits to the lake, I paddled north and then
eastward on the arm of the lake until I ran into an impassible lily pad field. Today,
I chose to just keep paddling north until I reached the end. I didn’t want to
take the time to paddle the entire lake because the swimming beach was calling
my name. Today is one of the few sunny, over 75 degrees, days that I have had
while paddling. Lake Hope has a small 600-foot swimming beach that I think is
one of the nicest in the state. It is really clean and has an old fashioned
good feel to it.
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| Paddling Northeast From Boat Ramp |
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| Heading Northeast |
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| Paddling to the Northern Tip of the Lake |
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| Mama Duck Taking a Break |
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| Paddling South |
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| Heading West Toward Swimming Beach |
At the beach, there are restrooms, changing facilities, and
the concession stand that sells food and drinks, as well as rents boats. I
paddled my kayak up to the beach and immediately took advantage of the
restrooms. Then, into the water I went. There were two little girls building a
sand castle and I asked then if my pirate duck could storm their castle. Permission
was granted so I took the opportunity to take baby duck’s picture. I have named
him Zaleski in honor of the surrounding state forest.
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| Baby Duck Zaleski |
The beach house, that contains the restrooms and changing
facilities, has a large deck with picnic tables overlooking the swimming beach
and playground. You get good views of the dam and spillway from there. Lake
Hope is a little unusual in that its spillway is located right next to the
public swimming beach. Seems to me that there would be some inherit risk in that
arrangement but what do I know, I am not an engineer.
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| Lake Hope Swimming Beach |
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| Lake Hope Snack Bar and Boat Rental |
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| Lake Hope Beach House |
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| Playground With Spillway in the Background |
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| Lake Hope Spillway |
Lake Hope State Park has 66 cottages for rent, with about
half off Park Road 9 to the west of the swimming beach and the other off Park
Road 1 leading to the Dining Lodge. There are also 141 non-electric campsites
and 46 electric ones. The high number campsites are quite a distance down the
road. It seemed to take forever to get to them when I was scoping out the
campground, I don’t know if that would be a plus or not. Overall, the
campground looked about average; although, the nature center was very pretty.
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| Lake Hope Dining Lodge |
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| Campground Nature Center |
Lake Hope is the place to go for a relaxing paddle with
pretty scenery.
May all your roads end in water,
Mama Duck Mona
