Salt and Hunting Trails Marker

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South Bloomingville in Hocking County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Salt and Hunting Trails

By William Fischer, Jr., August 15, 2009

1. Salt and Hunting Trails Marker

Inscription.
Modern roads often have their precedents in much older thoroughfares. Two ancient paths once converged near this point. As late as the 1700s, the Salt Trail guided Native Americans from the upper Scioto Valley plains past Cantwell Cliffs, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave to the salt springs in present-day Jackson County to obtain this precious commodity. The alignment of this path parallels State Route 56 from South Bloomingville and then turns southward along Narrows Road through the Salt Creek valley. An important Shawnee hunting trail extended from the Chillicothe area to the wooded hills in this region, which abounded in elk, buffalo, black bear, deer, and wild turkey. Route 56 from Ash Cave to Laurelville closely follows this trail.

Erected 2000 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Hocking County Tourism Association, Wyandot Land Company, Wyandot Woods, and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 3-37.)

Location. 39° 24.789′ N, 82° 38.663′ W. Marker is in South Bloomingville, Ohio, in Hocking County. Marker is on Ohio Route 56, on the left when traveling west. Click for map. Marker is about 300 feet west of Salt Creek and the intersection of Ohio Route 56 and County Road 184. Marker is in this post office area: South Bloomingville OH 43152, United States of America.

By William Fischer, Jr., August 15, 2009

2. Salt and Hunting Trails Marker

Looking east along OH 56 toward Salt Creek.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. Old Man’s Cave (approx. 6.2 miles away); Devil’s Bathtub (approx. 7 miles away); The Cox Covered Bridge (approx. 10.4 miles away); Major General William Sooy Smith (approx. 12.1 miles away); Zane's Trace (approx. 12.1 miles away); Camp Charlotte (approx. 13.7 miles away); Treaty of Camp Charlotte (approx. 13.7 miles away); Lock No. 12 The Sheep Pen Lock (approx. 13.9 miles away).

Also see . . . Salt Creek Township, Pickaway County, Ohio. This 1880s historical description of a neighboring township along the same Salt Creek in a neighboring county provides insightful information. (Submitted on November 23, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Lancaster, Ohio.)