BETHEL, Ohio — East Fork State Park’s campground is hosting an interpretive early-Ohio-settlers encampment this weekend, with costumed volunteers demonstrating pioneer-era skills for visitors.
The Grassy Run Historical Arts Committee is running the “Pioneer Weekend” encampment Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Loop H, sites 330-337, the park said in a Facebook post. The event is free for campground guests; non-campers pay $3 per vehicle to park.
The park described the gathering as an interpretive, early-Ohio-settlers-style encampment with hands-on activities for visitors.
The Grassy Run Historical Arts Committee was organized in 1988 to educate the public about the Battle of Grassy Run, an April 10, 1792, clash in Clermont County between frontiersman Simon Kenton and a group of Native American warriors that included Shawnee leader Tecumseh, fought near where Grassy Run empties into the East Fork of the Little Miami River. Since 1992, the committee has organized the Grassy Run Heritage Rendezvous each April at Williamsburg Community Park, an 18th-century living history encampment featuring musicians, Native American dancers, storytellers and craft demonstrations including blacksmithing, gunsmithing, and spinning and weaving.
East Fork State Park covers roughly 4,870 acres in Clermont County about 25 miles east of Cincinnati and includes William H. Harsha Lake, an approximately 2,160-acre reservoir. Its campground has 376 sites with electric hookups, including 23 full-hookup sites.
The information contained in this story was obtained from East Fork State Park.