West 78 from McConnelsville
East 78 from Burr Oak

Hickory Ridge is located just 5 miles west of McConnelsville and  11 miles east of Burr Oak State Park, on state route 78.  Just watch for the  BIG Hickory Ridge sign.

Start your festival tour by taking Best Road Rt 40 to Elliot Rd Rt 4.  Or start on the East side of the ridge at Hilltop farms just off Rt 377, look for the Hickory Ridge Sign in Pennsville.

Rt 78 is known as the "Rim of the World",  by AAA Magazine.

Hickory Ridge, Morgan Co Ohio

The Road Back, AAA Magazine

Ohio’s Morgan County Scenic Byway recalls a bygone era.

By Craig Springer

John Denver’s Country Roads could be a primer tothe Morgan County Scenic Byway through south east Ohio’s Appalachian Piedmont. It is next door to West Virginia after all. And even visitors not from here may feel like it’s taking them home. Ohio was settled by ax and plow. As the trees came down, out went the black bears, cougars, bobcats, elk—and forever silenced were the whistling wings of the passenger pigeons passing through Ohio’s expansive hardwood forests. Later, the Civil War cost more than 600,000 lives, as well as sounded the death knell for Ohio’s forests. Trees went down, the landscape scalped, in order to smelt iron and keep the country unified. Triumphant Return By many accounts, Ohio was about 90 percent forested at the start of its late-18th-century settlement. An account by historian Henry Howe provided insightful commentary, if not a winsome lament viewed through the windshield of today. He noted of the Morgan County area in 1834: “The scenery now was becoming unusually grand. The trees were mostly oak, and the finest growth; their noble stems ran up some 100 feet above and were beautifully feathered with verdant foliage. They ran off in the distance, park-like, but grander far, in admirable grouping, forming avenues, galleries, and recesses, and redolent with solemn loveliness, and here they stood before me like a thousand pillars of one vast imperishable temple of the worship of the Great Invisible.” That temple is still visible over much of the 39-mile Morgan County Scenic Byway. Ohio’s forests are growing back; about 30 percent of the state is now forested. In fact, for fall-foliage seekers, there’s more autumn color today than when Model Ts first rolled over these hills. Hitting the Road The Morgan County Scenic Byway starts (or stops) at a gem of the state park system—Burr Oak State Park near Bishopville. The park offers campsites, 38 equipped cabins, a 60-room lodge, fishing, hiking and more. Byway travelers turn north out of the park on state Route 78, headed toward Ringgold. This is where the going goes from good to great—especially saddled in a sports car. It’s called the Rim of the World for this: views of hills, apple orchards and farms for miles. Between Ringgold and Malta, travelers should leave the byway on county Road 4 to explore the Hickory Ridge area, where they will find artists and orchards selling everything from birdhouses and handmade brooms to fresh fruit and fine woodworking. Back on Route 78, it’s a short run to twin towns Malta and McConnelsville, separated at birth by the Muskingum River. In Malta, visitors can tour an American original—the 1877-built, one-room Rock Hollow School, complete with original furnishings. The Twin City Opera House on McConnelsville’s Main Street is a must-visit. Music lovers can catch a live performance in this historical 1890s building. An underground tunnel once connected it to a hotel across the street where the performers stayed. Down the hill in the bottoms is Lock No. 7 of the Muskingum River Parkway. The lock is one in a system of locks built from 1837 to 1841 to foster steamboat navigation. But steamboats went the way of the passenger pigeon; fishing boats and Jet Skis ply the water now. Bucket and Blimp The byway heads east out of McConnelsville on state Route 78/state Route 83. Nine miles east of town is Miner’s Memorial Park, a tribute to the coal-mining industry, where guests can walk inside the largest bucket they ever did see. “Big Muskie” is a monstrosity of metal, a bucket from the world’s largest earth mover, which was used to scoop out coal-laden earth. Made in 1969, it removed about 40 million pounds of dirt and coal—every hour until 1991. It weighed 640,000 pounds when full and was as big as a 12-car garage, operating at the underwhelming speed of 0.1 mph. The memorial has an interpretive display, with a photo of an entire high school marching band inside the bucket. Just beyond Big Muskie, the byway meets the junction of state Route 284 and heads toward its northern terminus just past the Muskingum County line. Travelers who spur northeast at the junction of state Route 340 and follow it through Cumberland and southeast for a few miles can catch state Route 821N to visit the town of Ava. Here, visitors will find a memorial to the USS Shenandoah, a U.S. Navy dirigible that crashed in a 1925 thunderstorm, killing 14 of 43 sailors including the blimp’s commander. Bryan and Theresa Rayner own the land where the ship crashed and maintain a museum holding artifacts and photos from the fateful day. A return to Route 284 to continue north will bring travelers to the byway’s end at the Wilds, the biggest wildlife conservation, education and research center in North America. Its 14 square miles of surface-mined land has been reclaimed, and not only is there native wildlife here, the most exotic of animals—all of them threatened or endangered—are at home as well. Animals such as rhinos, Baringo giraffes and American bison freely roam grasslands where quality coal was once extracted to fuel industry along the Ohio River and beyond. Camping excursions and safari and wetland trails tours are available to visitors May through October. Planning Your Trip Contact (740) 962-3200 or www.morgancounty.org to learn more about the byway. Be sure to call your AAA Travel agent or visit AAA.com/travel for a current Ohio road map and help with travel planning.