09/08/2026
Fall color will soon illuminate the landscape, and September's America 250 Postcard depicts some faint autumn hues at one of Ohio's most scenic locations! The Clear Fork Gorge Overlook at Mohican State Park (once part of Mohican State Forest) was built by hardworking Americans from the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Great Depression began in 1929 and dragged on for over a decade. At its peak, more than 1 in 3 Ohioans were unemployed. During his presidential campaign, Franklin D. Roosevelt claimed he would offer a "New Deal" that would bring economic relief to average Americans.
Following his election in 1932, Roosevelt got to work creating relief programs. One of these, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC or 3-C for short), offered work to young, unmarried men. Over 3 million enlistees worked on environmental projects in every state, from reforestation and trail building to malaria eradication and road paving.
Ohio's first CCC camp, Camp Stoney Creek, took shape in 1933 in what Scioto Trail State Park and Forest is today. Dozens of camps formed across Ohio, many that housed the workers responsible for developing some of our most iconic ODNR properties.
CCC Company 1570 from Camp Mohican worked at Mohican State Forest. They performed tasks from reforesting farmland to building trails. Improvements here testify to their effort - parkgoers can still gaze out from this historic overlook and hike the Gorge Overlook Trail that Company 1570 blazed in the 1930s!
Lace up your boots, grab a friend, and explore American history this autumn. No matter your location, you are never far from a CCC trail!
