A hiker makes his way up Radar hill in Athens, Ohio on 3/13/2021. Simple or complex, everyone has their purpose for the nature trail, and as Covid-19 and online services have altered society, some Athenians have taken to the various ridges trails to help cope with these changes.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the ridges trail loop has become a natural hub for socializing. With restrictions on interactions indoors, many people have taken to the trails and to Radar Hill (pictured here) to have meetings, catch up with friends, and to simply escape the indoors.

2 people and a dog walk across a hilly section of the ridges trail loop during sunset in Athens, Ohio, on 3/16/2021.

Avid walker of the ridges trails, Ralph Kelsey, takes a moment at Radar Hill in Athens, Ohio, on 4/6/2021. Ralph walks the trails for exercise ever since a knee surgery, and thinks that everyone derives some sort of therapeutic feeling by walking the trails. If anyone would know the true purpose of the trails, it'd be Ralph, as he's been walking the trails since he was a student at Ohio University.

A couple walk their dog as a strain of tall grass begins to leaf-out on the Ridges trail loop in Athens, Ohio on 4/3/2021. With spring steadily approaching, the plants found at the ridges trails start to bloom and grow their leaves, the weather and the natural beauty of the trail attracts more subjects to witness and feel the therapeutic effects of the nature contained in the trails.