BELMONT — Labor Day is over and children are back in school, which means summer is coming to a close — but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find fun things to do outdoors in Eastern Ohio.

Whether it’s hiking, fishing, camping, boating or maybe even photography, the region almost definitely has a place that’s right for you. With more than 20 parks, lakes and trails in five counties, there activities to be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Belmont County is home to is home to Barkcamp State Park and portions of Piedmont Lake. Jefferson County provides Jefferson Lake State Park. Wayne National Forest can be found in Monroe County with its smaller Dysart Woods tract in Belmont County. Guernsey County has Seneca Lake and Salt Fork State Park. In Harrison County, residents and visitors can enjoy Tappan Lake or Sally Buffalo Park. And these are just some of the attractions available in the area.

Many would say Belmont County’s main outdoor attraction is Barkcamp State Park. The county’s rugged hills provide the backdrop for picturesque Belmont Lake at Barkcamp. In addition to many recreational facilities, visitors can enjoy mature woodlands, open meadows and abundant wildlife of this secluded, 1,005-acre park.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, land acquisition began for the park in 1955 and a dam was completed in 1963, resulting in the 117-acre Belmont Lake. The park derives its unusual name from Barkcamp Creek, the former site of a logging camp where logs were stripped of their bark in preparation for delivery to the mill.

“The sandstone hills of the Barkcamp region are part of the Appalachian Plateau which envelop the southeastern part of Ohio. In the sandstone bedrock can be found layers of coal which were formed by decaying swamp vegetation millions of years ago during the Pennsylvanian geologic period. Barkcamp State Park lies in the heart of the coal-mining region of Ohio. The hills and valleys of the area are clothed with a second-growth forest,” ODNR states.

The local area today is one of the most forested in the Buckeye State. These woodlands, including those at Barkcamp, support a variety of plant and animal life.

In addition to wild flora and fauna, the park offers a taste of local history. The Antique Barn, built in the 1800s by orchardman Solomon Bentley, is nestled among historic displays and interpretive signs.

Harrison County residents may tell you Sally Buffalo Park is one of their outdoor recreational favorites.

Located off Ohio 9 in Cadiz, Sally Buffalo is situated on the site of an 1800s farm. According to the Harrison County Tourism Council, the surrounding area was surface mined for coal in the1950s.

“Hanna Coal Company built the existing dam in 1953 to reclaim the land and develop it into a park, initially to provide their employees with a place to camp for free,” the council states on its website. “The park was named and opened to the public in 1965. Hanna Coal was purchased by Consol, Inc. in the 1970s, and the park changed ownership several times until the village of Cadiz purchased it in 1990.”

The park is now governed by a board created in1992, along with the village of Cadiz. Its amenities include a family picnic area. The park’s name, according to the Harrison County Tourism Concil, has an interesting story. The council states John McFadden Sr., a veteran of the Revolution, settled in Harrison County and developed his farm on a 640-acre tract. It included a distillery and a horse powered sawmill. He left a portion of that land to his son, Samuel Buffalo McFadden, whose middle name came from the place of his birth at the headwaters of Buffalo Creek in Pennsylvania. He took a wife, Sally, and the name commemorates their union.

Jefferson County is home to Jefferson Lake State Park. The 962-acre park offers privacy and pleasant scenery. According to ODNR’s website, the Jefferson Lake region was once the home of Logan, the celebrated Mingo chief whose family was massacred on the Ohio River at the mouth of Yellow Creek. This incident spurred Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774.

Jefferson Lake State Park land acquisition began in 1928. The lake and other facilities were constructed by the National Park Service in cooperation with the old Ohio Division of Conservation as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, ODNR states. The dam was constructed in 1934, and the 17-acre lake was filled in 1946. In 1950, the area was turned over to the newly created Division of Parks and Recreation.

Another state park can be found in Guernsey County. Salt Fork State Park features wooded hills, open meadows and misty valleys decorated with winding streams.

“This magnificent state park is Ohio’s largest state park, with 17,229 acres of recreational facilities available to visitors. Salt Fork is said to have derived its name from a salt well used by Native Americans, located near the southeastern corner of the park. This area was one of the first areas in Ohio to be settled by pioneers,” according to ODNR.

According to the ODNR website Salt Fork lies in the unglaciated portion of the state. Throughout the area, thick-bedded, erosion resistant sandstone or conglomerate overlays more erosive siltstone, shale, coal and limestone layers, resulting in shelter caves, such as Hosak’s Cave, along with small waterfalls in the secondary drainages. Other interesting geologic features around the park are massive blocks of sandstone that have become detached, due to differential weathering, and toppled down slope.

Monroe County is home to a portion of Wayne National Forest — a patchwork of public land that covers more than a quarter million acres of Appalachian foothills in Ohio. The forest features 300 miles of trails for hiking, all-terrain vehicle riding, mountain biking, or horseback riding in season. The trails are open to ATVs, mountain bikes, and horseback riders from the middle of April to the beginning of December each year. Each season holds its own special beauty: the white dogwoods and pink redbuds of spring; summer’s emerald hills reflected in quiet lakes; the colorful pallet of autumn; and the shimmering beauty of a new snowfall. Campgrounds sheltered under towering trees and thousands of acres open to hunting and nature study.

Summer may be coming to it’s close, but there’s still time to enjoy all the outdoor fun our area has to offer.