Nature
Gifford State Forest is a 320-acre protected woodland in Bern Township, Athens County, on the northern edge of southeastern Ohio’s hill country. The smallest state forest in Ohio, it was established in 1959 after William Gifford Selby donated the land for experimentation and research. Named for the Gifford family and specifically Virginia Gifford, it continues to serve both public and scientific purposes as an experimental woodland and seed-orchard area. Its ridges, bluffs, steep slopes, hiking trails, white pine plantations, nursery, and use of prescribed burning reflect its dual ecological and recreational role within Ohio’s state forest system.
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Ohio · United States