Agency-listedODNR Division of ForestryFree
Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
Drive-up · Ohio Division of Forestry · OH · 38.70156, -83.18295
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Ask about this camp →Ohio Division of Forestry lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
FREE hike-in camping. Camp 4 is a designated backpack campground on the Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail in Scioto County, off the main loop on its own side trail. The exact site may be a couple hundred yards from this pin -- follow the trail signs. ODNR's own Shawnee Backpack Trail map states the rules: 'People may camp only in the designated campground areas shown on the map' and 'A self-registration permit (NO FEE) is required of all hikers' -- you fill it out before you start, at the trailhead parking (available 24 hours) or at forest headquarters on a weekday, drop it in the registration box and carry the stub. No reservations are taken and none are needed; ODNR confirmed in June 2025 that Shawnee stays first-come, first-served. Camping is capped at 14 days in any 30-day period. There is a latrine at each campground and nothing else. WATER: do not count on it -- the only supplies are caches near road crossings, filled from the City of Portsmouth, and ODNR warns they 'may not be serviced in winter'; carry your own and a filter. Shawnee is Ohio's largest state forest at 63,000+ acres, the 'Little Smokies', and it is a public hunting area, so wear blaze orange in season. ODNR specifically warns about venomous snakes here -- both copperheads and the endangered timber rattlesnake -- so watch where you put your hands and feet in rocky ground. The forest is open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. to everyone but legal hunters and anglers. Do not confuse this with Shawnee STATE PARK's Turkey Creek Campground nearby, which charges. Confirm current rules with the forest office (740) 858-6685 before you go -- we have not visited.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 881 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4 · Ohio Division of Forestry · OH
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater2 mi
- DDump2 mi
- LLaundry2 mi
- HHardware3 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- FFuel7 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- +Urgent care8 mi
- OOutfitter10 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- ShShower17 mi
- AAir-up31 mi
- PPropane34 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
Access
Drive-up
Land
Ohio Division of Forestry
Elevation
881 ft
Ground slope
37% · steep
Nearest rail line
~5.3 mi · main line
State
OH
Coordinates
38.70156, -83.18295
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4 · Ohio Division of Forestry · OH (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBrush Fork · under 0.1 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townFriendship · ~4.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~5.3 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~1.8 mi
- FuelGarrison Short Stop · ~6.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~1.9 mi
- GroceriesCamp Store · ~4.3 mi
- PharmacySmith Discount Pharmacy · ~10.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~7.5 mi
- HardwareOhio Builder Surplus · ~3.4 mi
EV charging — from Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4 · Ohio Division of Forestry · OH — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger12.4 mi straight-line NE — Glockner Chevrolet, Portsmouth, OH · EV Connect · CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 17 within 50 · 231 within 100 · 340 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)28.1 mi — LOVE'S 418 - KY #418 DC1, Grayson
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO41.6 mi — COLONY PARK STATION EAST, Hillsboro
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)10.2 mi — PORTSMOUTH EVCS STATION1 · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 302837 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4 · Ohio Division of Forestry · OH — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaScioto US23 SB · ~19.2 mi NE
- RestroomLewis Lake Fishing Area · ~23.1 mi E · USFS
- Highway rest areaPike SR32 EB · ~23.6 mi N
- Vault / pit toiletHanging Rock Trailhead · ~26.1 mi E · USFS
Coming out here — Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4 · Ohio Division of Forestry · OH
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Brush Fork as an intermittent stream, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 37% — steep. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~5.3 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4 elsewhere
Other camps near Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 3~2.2 mi
- Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp (unnumbered ODNR GIS point)~3.1 mi
- Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 5~3.1 mi
- Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 7~4.0 mi
Who holds the land at Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Shawnee State Forest, manager on record: Ohio Department of Natural Resources (state). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
Permit
A self-registration permit (no fee) is required of all hikers.
Area rules
People may camp only in the designated campground areas shown on the map.
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Source: ODNR Division of Forestry, Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail map (dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/odnr/forestry/Maps/shawnee_backpack.pdf), 'Backpack Trail Rules' 1-3, read 2026-07-29. Pin: ODNR GIS OIT_Services/ODNR_POI/MapServer/0 (statewide, all-division Points of Interest), SUBTYPE='Primitive Camping', outSR=4326 ('Primitive Camping' point). Name: 645 ft from ODNR's own 'Camp 4 Backpack Side Trail' in ODNR GIS FOR_Services/Forestry_Trails_verify/MapServer/5 ('Forestry_Trails'), true nearest-point distance per segment -- not a bounding-box centre, with the next-nearest camp trail 11,638 ft away -- an unambiguous name match, but neither the side trail nor OSM node 6548707683 'Camp 4' (650 ft, fee=no) lands ON the pin, so 'med' for pin precision. Pin is 920 ft from the main south loop. FREE STATUS: ODNR's own backpack-trail map requires 'a self-registration permit (no fee)' -- the operator prices the permit in the sentence that requires it -- and Ohio charges no state-forest entry or vehicle permit (no Discover-Pass analogue), so the free-only guardrail on ACCESS cost is met; a free self-issued register is expressly allowed by the mission. CAMPING-ALLOWED guardrail met by the restrictive form of rule 1 ('may camp only in the designated campground areas'). Corroborated by ohiodnr.gov 'Primitive Camping' ('reservations are not required or accepted' at backpack campsites) and by the ODNR news release of 2025-06-06, which keeps Shawnee and Zaleski on first-come, first-served while moving Hocking and Mohican-Memorial to reserved permits. Hunters camps (licensed hunters only) and horse camps (horse required) on these forests were checked and EXCLUDED. NOTE: the GIS `FEE` attribute is NULL on 100% of rows in both layers and was NOT relied on. Ingest 2026-07-29.
--- NIGHTSHIFT REVIEW 2026-08-21 (fire 1220, leftover backlog) --- HOLDS UP. Re-downloaded ODNR Division of Forestry's Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail map (https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/odnr/forestry/Maps/shawnee_backpack.pdf) this fire and re-read the 'Backpack Trail Rules' panel. Verbatim and unchanged: rule 1 'People may camp only in the designated campground areas shown on the map.'; rule 2 'A self-registration permit (no fee) is required of all hikers. The permit, which must be filled out prior to entering the trail, is available on the trail parking area 24-hours a day, and at Shawnee State Forest headquarters (open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays). Hikers should place the completed permit in the registration box provided and carry the stub with them on the trail.'; rule 3 'No person is permitted to camp more than 14 days in any 30-day period.' RULE THE ORIGINAL INGEST MISSED -- ADD IT TO THE PAGE: rule 3 continues 'Camps must be moved to a different backpack campground each day.' This is a one-night-per-campground trail. The existing field_note says only '14 days in any 30-day period' and would let a reader plan a two-night stay at one camp, which the operator forbids. Also rule 4: 'Backpack groups are limited to a maximum of 10 people per party at any one backpack campground.' Water caches, latrines and the snake warnings are all still verbatim as recorded. COORDINATE UPGRADE: ODNR's own GIS (OIT_Services/ODNR_POI/MapServer/0, live this fire) returns a 'Primitive Camping' point on LANDS_NAME='ShawneeFR' at exactly this row's coordinate (0 ft). The pin is ODNR's own. NAME NOW AGENCY-CONFIRMED: ODNR's own trail layer carries 'Camp 4 Backpack Side Trail', nearest point 644 ft from this pin, with the next-nearest named camp side trail miles off -- an unambiguous match. Pin is 919 ft from the Backpack Main Trail South Loop. The site is off the loop on its own side trail, so expect a couple hundred yards of walking from the pin; the field_note already says so. APPROVED.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail - Camp 4
Fire rules & restrictions →Dispersed camping tips →Picking a spot →Leave no trace →All field notes →