Hueston Woods & Brookville Lake — Old-Growth Forest, Fossils & Gorge

An hour northwest and west of Cincinnati lies a two-state weekend of big water and rare forest. Day one explores Hueston Woods State Park, whose 200-acre stand of virgin beech and sugar maple is one of the last uncut old-growth forests in Ohio, ringing Acton Lake and hiding some of the state's best exposed Ordovician fossil beds along its creeks. Day two crosses into Indiana for Brookville Lake — a 5,000-acre reservoir on the East Fork Whitewater River — and the dramatic Whitewater Gorge at Richmond, where the river has cut a fossil-lined canyon through the same ancient seabed. A night at the Hueston Woods Lodge, perched above Acton Lake, ties together two days of forest walking, fossil hunting, and shoreline miles close to home.