Smokey Bear 75th Anniversary GeoTour
Since 1944, Smokey Bear has taught millions of Americans about their role in preventing wildfires. 75 years later, Smokey is celebrating a milestone birthday. Honor him and this timeless message of wildfire prevention by finding all 75 caches in this GeoTour.
About This Specific Location
Placed with the permission of the Ohio Division of Forestry. This is 1 of 10 hidden Smokey Bear geocaches in OH and 1 of 75 hidden on the entire Smokey Bear Geotour which is located in the following 7 states: VA, MD, OH, DE, NJ, PA and WV. T
Dean State Forest became one of Ohio’s first state forests when 1,500 acres were acquired in 1916 here in the unglaciated hill country of southcentral Ohio near the Ohio River in Lawrence County.
From the early 1800s to about 1900, most of the timber in the area was cut for charcoal to supply blast furnaces for the smelting of locally mined iron ore. The area had also been burned over many times by fires started along the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad which ran through the forest. Thus, when the land was purchased in 1916 for Dean State Forest, it was largely denuded of trees. It became an early experimental area to determine the best tree species and planting methods for reforestation. Several of the plantings (such as the white pine, red pine, and yellow-poplar along State Route 373 in Texas Hollow) are visible results of those experiments and efforts. In the early 1930s, a Civilian Conservation Camp was located on the forest. Supervised by the Division of Forestry, camp personnel constructed and improved access roads and did much timber stand improvement work. Today, Dean State Forest contains over 2,800 acres of forest land.
By visiting all of these locations, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of why it is so important to prevent wildfires - whether in your backyard or out in the forest. The Middle-Atlantic Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact are the Hosts of this GeoTour. We offer several trackable prizes so please use this GeoTour Passport to keep track of your progress.
More About This GeoTour
By visiting all of these locations, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of why it is so important to prevent wildfires - whether in your backyard or out in the forest. The Middle-Atlantic Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact are the Hosts of this GeoTour. We offer several trackable prizes so please use this GeoTour Passport to keep track of your progress.