The Moonville Rail Trail didn't happen by accident. The 10-mile corridor through Vinton and Athens counties — anchored by the brick-lined Moonville Tunnel listed on the National Register of Historic Places — exists today because a community decided that a forgotten railroad grade was worth saving. The story of how this trail went from an abandoned, overgrown rail corridor to one of southeast Ohio's most distinctive outdoor destinations is a story about volunteers, vision, and the stubborn persistence required to turn a good idea into a usable trail.
The Railroad History
The corridor follows the route of the former Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, which began service through this valley in the 1850s. The railroad served industrial purposes — never carrying passengers — because of its proximity to the Red Diamond Dynamite plant and the small mining and sawmill communities that dotted the hollow. The line passed through hands over the decades: from the Marietta and Cincinnati to the Baltimore & Ohio, then to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway before it was eventually abandoned in the mid-20th century.
The communities it served — Moonville, Ingham Station, King's Station — were never large. Moonville Station was home to just a couple of families, one operating a sawmill, gristmill, and coal mine. But the railroad was the lifeline. The roads in this hollow flooded seasonally (they still do), making the rail corridor the most reliable path through the valley. When the trains stopped running, the communities faded.
What remained was the infrastructure: the brick-lined Moonville Tunnel, the rock-carved King's Hollow Tunnel with its massive 12x12 wooden beam lining, the graded corridor through the forest, and the ghost stories. The tunnel's reputation as a paranormal hotspot — rooted in documented railroad fatalities from the 19th century, including a brakeman killed near the tunnel — kept the site in local consciousness even as the forest reclaimed the tracks.
The Moonville Rail Trail Association
The trail exists today largely through the work of the Moonville Rail Trail Association, a nonprofit organization that provides maintenance services for the trail in partnership with the Vinton County Park District, which operates the trail. The association's volunteers handle the unglamorous but essential work of trail upkeep: clearing downed trees, maintaining drainage, managing vegetation, and keeping the trail surface usable.
The crushed limestone surface on the eastern section (from the tunnel to Mineral) was completed with new creek bridges installed in 2021 — a significant milestone that transformed a rough, intermittent path into a proper hiking trail. The western section from Zaleski to the tunnel area remains on unimproved surfaces, with gaps where missing bridges over Raccoon Creek require hikers to detour onto gravel roads.
Trail Expansion Plans
The full planned route extends 16 miles — from Zaleski in the west to a connection with the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway in Athens to the east. When complete, this would link the Moonville corridor to the larger regional trail network, creating a continuous path from the Vinton County backcountry to the Ohio University campus in Athens. To the west, plans call for the trail to eventually extend to the Jackson County line.
The primary obstacles are infrastructure: bridges over Raccoon Creek that were removed when the railroad was abandoned need to be rebuilt, and sections of the corridor require negotiation with adjacent landowners. Trail development at this scale is measured in years and funding cycles, not months.
From Forgotten Corridor to Tourism Asset
The transformation of the Moonville Rail Trail from an abandoned rail grade to a recognized tourism destination represents a pattern that's playing out across rural Appalachian Ohio: communities finding economic value in natural and historical assets that previous generations viewed as leftover infrastructure. The tunnel's paranormal reputation, which might have remained a local curiosity, now draws visitors from across the state who combine the trail visit with cabin stays and other Hocking Hills activities.
The trail also demonstrates the ecological value of rail-trail conversion. The corridor's wetland areas — created by the water that pools on both sides of the trail grade — support numerous species of flora and fauna. The flat, graded path provides accessible outdoor recreation in a region where the natural terrain is steep and challenging. And the trail connects two state-level recreational assets — Zaleski State Forest and Lake Hope State Park — creating a larger recreational network that's greater than the sum of its parts.
How to help: The Moonville Rail Trail Association accepts volunteers and donations. Trail maintenance events are organized periodically — check with the Vinton County Park District or the association for upcoming opportunities. Even small contributions support the ongoing work of keeping this trail accessible.
