Notes from my Knapsack 3-3-22

Notes from my Knapsack 3-3-22

Jeff Gill

A round trip of the Land of Legend

___

If you've got about three hours to spend & have cabin fever, here's my suggestion for a day when the sun is shining. You'll drive a hundred miles and never leave Licking County, but get a great sense of the whole rich wide range of terrain we have.

I'm starting in general around downtown Newark, so adjust from there as suits your location. Head east, exit at Cedar St. and go north on Rt. 79. Drive on through Wilkins Corners, on to turn at Rocky Fork Road heading north: watch you swing left just north of 79 and don't end up on Rainrock Rd., but cross the bridge.

You'll pass Camp Falling Rock but enjoy the geological formations on either side of Rocky Fork, clearly visible from your car this time of year, hidden from the road during leafier seasons. Beware as the pavement ends, keep going until you run into Camp Ohio Rd., turn left. You'll run into Martinsburg Rd., jog north to Richards Rd. then it runs right into Bell Church: get out, enjoy the view from the cemetery hilltop outside the historic church building -- Amish farming to your east makes for a different sort of look to the fields.

Take Bell Church Rd. over to US 62, turn left, roll past Utica (Watts Restaurant just a few blocks north), head across the county with sweeping views north and south and straight ahead. When you hit 657/Marion Rd., turn right; more rolling countryside until you reach the hamlet of Lock and Lock Rd., turning left to shadow the northern county line until you reach Fairgrounds Rd., turning left. Past the Hartford Fairgrounds, into Croton, south on Croton Rd. -- heavily glaciated flat farmfields on either side, after you just saw unglaciated geology all around you up Rocky Fork.

The road ends at Rt. 37, turn left and pass through Johnstown, and just east of town south on 310. Back into rolling terrain, on across Rt. 16 and then south of the highway turn left on Morse Rd., the main road from central Licking County to Worthington and Franklinton in the 19th century. You'll turn right on Outville Rd., and on through one of Licking County's often missed little gems, Outville itself.

Then to US 40, the Old National Road at Kirkersville. This next stretch is straight ahead driving through Luray and Hebron and Jacksontown, but look for old buildings and of course the milestones still often in view on the north side of the road, some nicely maintained, all along the way. Eagle's Nest just before Brownsville, about 15 miles from Kirkersville, is the highest point on the National Road in Ohio, and the views to the south along here are always stunning.

Take Brownsville Road north, aka CR 668; turn right at Flint Ridge State Memorial and pause there as suits you. Flint Ridge Rd. to Gratiot Rd. north (left turn) and at the jog, just turn left and stay on Brushy Fork Rd., making sure to see the Old Stone Church of Christ on your left, the oldest church building in the county still in use (c. 1836, just ahead of St. Luke's in Granville). Meander on down the valley until you reunite with Brownsville Rd., turning right to cross the Licking River, and return to Rt. 16, crossing it, and then veering left on Marne Rd.; you'll pass through Marne village, and watch for Montour's Point on your left (a George Ball home on a site that was a trading post back likely into the 1750s) then Bowling Green Cemetery on the right, oldest pioneer settler cemetery in the county. Cross Rt. 16 again, and enter Newark on E. Main St., returning home as you wish.

About 100 miles, three hours or so depending on stops, and you'll have sampled a grand circuit of this Land of Legend we call home.

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's driven all of this a few times and backwards, too. Tell him sights you like to share in this county at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.