Plan Your Visit
Highlands Nature Sanctuary
& the Appalachian Forest Museum
Open Saturday & Sundays only April-October
Park opens at 9:30am and closes at 5:00pm
The Highlands Nature Sanctuary is 2000-acre hiking and nature education destination in southern Ohio, in the heart of the scenic Rocky Fork Gorge.
Entrance is by voluntary donation. Hikers, please register at the Appalachian Forest Museum for a hiking pass to the Museum’s three nature trails.
Museum displays and trails are open to non-members during publicized hours only. If you are interested in visiting expanded hours or days, or accessing the Arc’s longer wilderness trails, find out about becoming a Friends of the Arc Member.
Amenities & FAQ
Nature Trails
Highlands Nature Sanctuary offers nature education and appreciation suitable for everyone. A viewing deck overlooks the Rocky Fork Creek, and three short nature trails lead from the Appalachian Forest Museum into the heart of the Rocky Fork Gorge, an easy but stunning walk to some of the Nature Sanctuary's most scenic landscapes.
Valley of the Ancients. A rock-lined trail curves down to the Rocky Fork Creek, winding through the bottom of a 100 foot high vertical dolomite gorge. Walk beneath towering hemlocks and rare white cedar trees of great antiquity, viewing the art of breathtaking panoramas sculpted from the elements of rock and water. 1/4 mile loop.
Etawah Woods Loop Trail. This trail offers a breathtaking trek along the rim of the Rocky Fork Gorge, with beautiful views of the canyon floor. Mid-way is a spur that takes you down a long flight of stairs into the canyon, below giant hemlocks, and eventually right up to the water, where one can enjoy the famous geologic feature known as the three sisters – three giant slump blocks mid-stream. 1/3 mile loop.
Big Beech Loop Trail. See the forest through the eyes of a frontier naturalist while walking through an authentic old-growth Beech Forest. Walk by ancient towering Tulip Poplars and massive Beech trees – such a rare experience in modern Ohio! This is not just a forest of old trees, but an intact ecosystem and forest community. 1/4 mile loop.
Appalachian Forest Museum
The Appalachian Forest Museum is the first museum in the world devoted to Earth’s temperate forest biome.
Visually stunning and inspiring, the Appalachian Forest Museum brings visitors a new perspective on our home biome. Follow a deer trail through an ancient grove of old-growth tree replicas to experience the little-known but world significant story of the temperate forest.
The story, which starts 33 million years ago and spans across the globe, is told in eight chapters, each illustrated by an original mural sized oil painting, hand-painted by renowned artists Geoff Mowery, John Agnew, and Robert Dafford.
The Appalachian Forest Museum's displays were completed in late 2011 and proudly unveiled to the public at the Arc of Appalachia's annual Donor Gathering. Funding for the project was provided by the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, the Highland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Wilderness East. See the Display Evaluation.
The Arc of Appalachia is a charitable non-profit.
Our operations and educational programs are supported entirely by donations. Please consider becoming a Friends of the Arc member by making a donation to the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System and help support our mission of forest preservation and education. Read more about the important work of the Arc of Appalachia.