Fall Foliage 2024 – Mohican State Forest

It was a glorious Fall day on Sunday, so I headed down to Mohican State Park and Forest. It had been several years since I made it down there to check out the foliage, so I was looking forward to some great colors.

Unfortunately, hundreds, if not thousands, of other Ohioans had the same idea. 

Consequently, most parking areas adjacent to a scenic vista were choked with cars. There were no parking spaces anywhere. Even the Amish (who apparently all decided to picnic at Mohican today) were stashing their buggies and horses wherever they could. To make matters even worse, a wedding party decided to appropriate just about the entire Gorge lookout area for their festivities, with music blaring away. (I should have crashed the party and swiped some goodies as payment for having to park 1/4 mile away.)

Anyway, it still was the perfect autumn day and I managed to get photos of some of the park's landmarks. I even attempted a few Then & Nows.

One of my first stops was at the Memorial Forest Shrine. It originally honored the men and women of Ohio who lost their lives during World War II, before later expanding its scope to include Ohioans who died in all wars.

Admiral Ernest J. King was at the 1947 dedication ceremony. He wasn't identified in the photo on display, but I knew who he was.

I also made it over to the Fire Tower. I only went up about a third of the way before feeling like James Stewart in Vertigo.

I stopped at the Lodge, where I have stayed many times. It's barely recognizable from when it was new. By the way, it's celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. (Here's its website.)

Anyway, I found the best color along Ohio State Route 97.

I've devoted several blog posts to Mohican over the years, and covered some of its landmarks (like the Memorial Shrine) before.