Moonville Tunnel 

Stuff along the rail-trail

poison ivy at Moonville

Although the trail is well-maintained and has a level path, when visiting Moonville, bring bug spray! The area sits above Raccoon Creek and some swampy areas prone to mosquitoes, ticks, and chiggers. Oh, and here's an old saying heard in this neck of the woods: "Leaves of three, leave them be!" That would include poison ivy that is along the trail. If you don't know what poison ivy looks like, take a look at the picture above and stay on the trail  or you'll end up pretty itchy later if you run into a patch! 

Path near Kings Station

Moonville Rail Trail - Kings Station

Path Near Bear Hollow at Ingham Station

Ingham Station along Moonville Rail Trail

The Rail Trail at Moonville

The Moonville Rail Trail is a work-in-progress 16-mile trail. From the parking lot at Moonville, you can hike a 3.6 miles(one-way) route from the Moonville Tunnel through King Tunnel and then to Mineral on a nice path and turn around to come back again. The old train path will take you through the ghost towns of Moonville, Ingham Station, and Kings Station. 

Moonville Tunnel Southeastern Ohio

Kings Station Tunnel

Kings Station Tunnel Southeastern Ohio Rail Trail

Map of Moonville Tunnel:

 

Buy the little book of Moonville Ghosts by Jannette Quackenbush

Or come take a hike and ghost hunt with me along the old trails of Appalachia, like those in Moonville, with ghost stories and legends attached.

 

A couple Haunted Hikes: Occasionally the roar of wheels to rail and the mournful cry of a train horn fill the air on the old Baltimore and Ohio tracks between Zaleski and Athens, Ohio. Yet, locomotives have not run the nearby rails in over thirty years. Trainmen dreaded taking the late night runs through this isolated section because the ghost of one of their own, engineer Theodore Lawhead, was killed here when his train collided with another near this tunnel on a cold November night in 1880. After, newspapers reported his ghost was seen floating down the embankment dressed in white with a lantern in hand and eyes glowing red. Perhaps you will see and hear these ghosts too during a special night hike with author Jannette Quackenbush on a night with a full moon. Find out more here-

The Book of Moonville Tunnel and Moonville. Its Past. Its Ghosts.

Click here to buy the book!

 

Take a walk with Lucy and Jannette and see Moonville through the eyes of the Lucy Cam!

A video I took many years ago that was on "My Ghost Story" when few people ventured because you had to hike through Forestry to get there or cross the risky waters of Raccoon Creek. And no, no other people were around. . .

 

The Moonville Rail Trail is maintained by Moonville Rail Trail Association, established in April of 2001 in order to build and maintain the muscle-powered Moonville Rail Trail system.

Zaleski State Forest

Moonville Rail Trail

Moonville Tunnel

Ghosts

Folklore

...and much more