Begin by walking up Water Tower Drive. If you stand facing the Kennedy Museum, Water Tower Drive is the uphill paved road beginning about a block to your right; it is marked with a street sign.  As you ascend Water Tower, you will pass the 19th century cemetery on your left. Enter the forest by going around the gate near the foot of the water tower, and then follow the dirt road. The rusted round structure you will see on your left is a cistern from the days when the asylum kept up vegetable gardens and orchards. As you emerge from the woodland into meadows, you will see old apple trees on your right, remnants from orchards planted nearly a century ago. When the road splits, take the right fork.

Before you is Radar Hill, where Ohio University once maintained three radar dishes. When you reach the top of the hill, take a moment to check out the 360 degree view of Athens County. Wild turkeys can sometimes be seen at the edges of the forest hurrying along on foot in small groups.  Retracing your steps, notice that the fields support milkweed, important to the lifecycle of the Monarch Butterfly.  Deer can be spotted in both fields and forest; after a snowfall their paths are easily seen.

For nearly one hundred years the state psychiatric hospital at The Ridges maintained cemeteries for patients who died in residence here and whose bodies were unclaimed by their families in time for burial at home. This walk features a tour of all three hospital cemeteries, connected by a 1.3 mile nature walk. Begin this walk from Richland Avenue. After crossing the Hocking River, turn right on Dairy Lane. If you are driving you may park in the lot by the picnic area and playground. Walking along Dairy Lane, in a few minutes you will pass the OHIO Ecohouse on your right (you can’t miss its solar panels). Next, on your left, is the Dairy Barn Arts Center. The old concrete gates on your right, marked with an OU sign, indicate the beginning of the Cemeteries Nature Trail. Help yourself to the Nature Walk brochure from the rack on the sign. The beginning of this walk is not for the faint hearted; you must climb a steep staircase built in 2002 by the Zaleski Civilian Conservation Corps. A bench awaits you at the top, overlooking one of the hospital cemeteries. Continue the walk by following the green Nature Trail signs. At the second cemetery, it is OK to walk straight through the graves to the top edge of the cemetery. Turn right and walk toward the cemetery’s NW corner. There begins a gravel and dirt trail, well marked with Nature Trail signs. 

Continue to follow the Nature Trail signs. The brochure points out sights along the way, numbered with green and white markers. If you notice that you have passed marker “Number 6” (nesting boxes for hawks or kestrels) twice, don’t worry you are not going in circles -- there are several nesting box areas. Notice also “Number 8”, which includes a spectacular American Beech tree from the 19th century

The trail ends at the cemetery on Water Tower Drive and takes you around a restored pond via footbridges. In all but the driest weather, wear shoes that can take boggy areas. In snow and ice carry a walking stick or trekking pole as the descent through white pines on a north- facing hill can be slippery.

Here is a copy of the Cemeteries Nature Walk brochure to download.