From ‘The Inspiration Edition’ — The Grandma Gatewood archives, Gallia’s true trailblazer
Staff Report
The Gatewood Trail System offers nearly 15 miles of trails in Rio Grande, Ohio and is named after Gallia’s Emma (Grandma) Rowena Gatewood, a famed hiker.
Beth Sergent | OVP
Excerpts from: ‘Grandma Gatewood, 85, dies’
Mrs. Emma (Grandma) Rowena Gatewood, 85, Thurman, Gallia County’s most famous hiker, died at 10 a.m. today in the Holzer Medical Center.
Mrs. Gatewood, who gained national and world fame by walking the Appalachian and Oregon Trails while in her late 60s and early 70s, in the 1950s and 60s, had just returned from a trip out west last month. She had made appearances in every state in the union with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. During the peak of her hiking years, she appeared on numerous television shows, and was the subject of feature articles in several newspapers from coast-to-coast.