Camp maps and points of interest
Feel free to wander the camp and visit its historic sites. However, please stay on established trails marked for your user group. Hikers are permitted to use any of the trails. Use caution in areas of rugged terrain. Help us keep our camp litter-free and enjoy your stay. As the stockade sign reads, “You are a stranger here but once.”
We ask that all trail users please do not use the trails in wet conditions. If you find yourself leaving tread marks from your shoes or tires, then the trail should not be used. Typically a good rule of thumb is to wait 24 hours before riding/running after rain. We appreciate you helping us keep the trails at Camp Tuscazoar awesome!
On Camp Tuscazoar property, Class 1 e-bikes may be used on the mountain bike trails, but must travel safely and with respect to other trail users. Class 2 and above bikes are not permitted on any trails.
Our address is: 6066 Boy Scout Rd. NE; Dover, OH 44622-7541
Trail Maps
*Click on the image above to see a larger version of the camp map
Camp trail map in PDF format (color) >
Trail maps can also be downloaded from the Trail Forks App.
Campsite Maps
*Click on the image above to see a larger version of the camp map
Campsite Map in PDF format (color) >
Campsite Map in PDF format (b&w) >
Other Maps
Points of Interest
The Stockade
Standing at the far end of the parking lot, the stockade has become the symbol of Camp Tuscazoar. The men of the Pipestone camp honors program built the first stockade on this site in the early 1960’s. A replica of the fort palisades gate that once stood at the camp’s first entrance near Pioneer Point, it was dedicated to former area scout council executive Dudley Unkefer. This stockade was rebuilt in 1998. In 2020, as part of its centennial celebration, the camp built and dedicated the current stockade entrance.
W. C. Moorhead Museum
The W.C. Moorhead Museum exhibits photographs, books, uniforms, patches, artifacts and other memorabilia depicting the history of Camp Tuscazoar and area Scouting. The museum, which also serves as the camp trading post, was built in 1995 as part of Camp Tuscazoar’s 75th anniversary celebration. W.C. Moorhead, Tuscazoar’s first Ranger, established a trust fund to finance the museum’s construction.
Tom’s Chapel
Tom’s Chapel was built in 1965 in memory of Tommy Hohn, a Star Scout in Troop 6 at Canton’s First Methodist Church, who died at age 14.
The Trail to Pioneer Point
The trail from Troop 5 cabin to Pioneer Point crosses the Netawatwes Brook. Stone walls that once formed the camp’s first swimming pool are visible in the creek bed. As the trail climbs steeply to Pioneer Point, deciduous trees give way to a pine forest. Near the bluffs above the railroad bed are the remnants of the camp’s first dining hall. Above the dining hall site stood a cabin used by Tuscazoar’s first camp director and the founder of the Pipestone camp honors ceremony, Chief George Deaver.
Pioneer Point
Pioneer Point, an authentic Indian lookout, offers a panoramic view of the northern Tuscarawas River valley, where the river flows south from Zoar past the camp. Here, since 1925, first-time campers have placed stones upon a stone cairn. Former Camp Director I.W. Delp started the pile as a memorial to Revolutionary War soldiers who built and defended nearby Ft. Laurens in 1778-1779. Through the years, the stone cairn has also come to symbolize the spirit of Tuscazoar. In 1930 a group of boys led by Ralph Reichenbach spelled “Camp Tuscazoar” in white stones on the face. The letters can still be seen more than a mile away.
Zoarville Station Bridge
The Zoarville Station (Fink Truss) Bridge, is the only existing bridge that used the “through truss” design of German designer Albert Fink. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ohio Register of Historic Places and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The bridge is a key stop along the Zoar Valley Trail. Restoration efforts began shortly after the bridge was acquired in 1997; it was re-assembled and re-opened in 2007.
The Tunnel
When the railroad tracks had to be moved during the construction of Dover Dam, the Netawatwes Brook valley was filled in. The camp buildings in this area were demolished or flooded, and a tunnel was installed. The tunnel provided access to the river for scouts and allowed the brook to empty into the Tuscarawas River under the new railroad tracks. Many a young Scout felt a shiver of terror creep down his back as he slowly made his way through its darkness. Please use extreme caution when walking through the tunnel.
Rex Farrall Carving
Along the lower abandoned railroad bed, near a tunnel under the old railroad grades, is the carving of an Indian chief. Tuscazoar camper and staff member Rex Farrall carved the figure in the late 1920’s. A scout in Troop 4, Rex Farrall served as the camp Bugler and was editor of the camp newspaper, “The Trailblazer.” When he died, his ashes were spread on the camp property. A fading red and white arrow logo nearby was used as part of a scout Order of the Arrow ceremony.
Dover Dam
Constructed in 1936, Dover Dam was one of a series of dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. The dam protects thousands of acres of crop land from flooding. Dover Dam’s construction forced the relocation of many of Camp Tuscazoar’s original buildings because they were in the dam’s flood plain or in the path of the relocated railroad. Please use caution near the dam.
Buzzard’s Roost
Here, on a rocky outcropping hundreds of feet above the Tuscarawas River, one can see Dover Dam below, observe the hillsides far across the river valley and watch as the Tuscarawas River continues toward New Philadelphia and Gnadenhutten to the Muskingum River. This lofty pinnacle was named for the buzzards that alight on the rocks. Like Pioneer Point, Buzzard’s Roost served as a lookout for area Indians. At one time, Buzzard’s Roost was also known as Post’s Point, in honor of Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary who visited this valley.
Zoarite Iron Mines
After establishing the community of Zoar in 1817-1818, the German separatists began mining iron in the surrounding hills to provide income for the community. One such mine was located on the present camp property. A technique known as kidney mining, an early form of strip mining, was used to uncover the raw iron ore. The soil was stripped away to reveal the ore beneath. Signs of this activity can still be seen along the northern side of the horseshoe trail from Buzzard’s Roost. A stone wall at the end of the trail probably was used to load the iron ore into waiting carts for transport to a nearby furnace.
Reclaimed Coal Mine
In 2009, the Camp Tuscazoar Foundation acquired a large portion of the Dessecker farm, which included a small scale surface and underground coal mine and tipple. The mine was subsequently sealed and the surrounding acreage was reclaimed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), through its Ohio Abandoned Mine Lands Program. In 2019, hundreds of volunteers gathered to plant 5,000 trees on the reclaimed hillside.
2019 National Award Winner – Dessecker Mine Project video >
American Industrial Mining Co. Museum >