Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
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  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

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State parks & forests117 places, with cabins, campsites and trails117 places Waterfalls34 falls, with trail notes34 falls Mounds & earthworks64 ancient sites, from Serpent Mound to Newark64 ancient sites Caves & caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters12 caves Lake Erie beaches20 public beaches, Conneaut to Toledo20 beaches Historic sites40 places, from the frontier to the Civil War40 places Road trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail33 drives Oddities19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops19 roadside stops The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile loop, all 26 sections1,444 miles

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Six places to start

One from every corner of the state, each with its full story inside.

01Old Man's CaveHocking Hills · SoutheastA gorge of waterfalls and recess caves where a hermit is said to have lived, with the park's visitor center. 02Great Serpent MoundAdams County · SouthwestA gigantic earthen snake on a hilltop over Ohio Brush Creek, built by a people whose name is still argued over. 03Brandywine FallsCuyahoga Valley · NortheastThe tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, reached by an easy boardwalk with an accessible upper overlook. 04Marblehead LighthouseMarblehead · Lake ErieThe oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, lit since 1821, on nine acres of limestone shoreline. 05Zoar VillageTuscarawas County · EasternA well-preserved communal village founded by German separatists in 1817, on the Ohio & Erie Canal. 06Longaberger Basket BuildingNewark · CentralA seven-story office building shaped like a picnic basket, with handles that are heated in winter.

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Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

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Parks, forests & wildlife areas

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117 parks in 7 regions

Fort Recovery Museum and Monument

Fort Recovery · Mercer County · Western Ohio
Where Native nations won the U.S. Army's worst defeat, then lost the war
Site of two 1790s battlesOhio History Connection
Fort Recovery State Museum, 1 Fort Site St Directions →Official source →

The site of the worst defeat the U.S. Army ever suffered at Native hands, and of the fort built on its bones.

St. Clair's Defeat
November 4, 1791: about 1,000 U.S. troops were overwhelmed by more than 1,000 warriors of nine Native nations
Native leaders
Little Turtle (Miami), Blue Jacket (Shawnee) and Buckongahelas (Delaware)
Losses
About 900 Americans were killed or wounded, including many women and children who had followed the army; counts vary
Fort Recovery
Built in December 1793 by General Anthony Wayne on the battlefield
Second battle
June 30 to July 1, 1794, when Little Turtle's forces attacked the new fort
On site
A reconstructed stockade and blockhouses, a museum and a 101-foot limestone monument

The story

On the morning of November 4, 1791, General Arthur St. Clair's army of about 1,000 was camped on the upper Wabash River when a force of more than 1,000 warriors from nine nations, led by Little Turtle of the Miami, Blue Jacket of the Shawnee and Buckongahelas of the Delaware, attacked at dawn. They were defending their homes against an army sent to take the country. The army broke and fled, and the warriors overran its camp and killed the women and children who had followed the soldiers. About 900 Americans were killed or wounded, more than 150 of them camp followers by one museum account. It remains the most decisive defeat in the history of the U.S. Army and the largest victory ever won by Native forces over Americans.

President Washington answered by creating the Legion of the United States under Anthony Wayne. In December 1793 Wayne's men reached the battlefield and found the ground still littered with unburied remains. They built a fort on it and named it Recovery. In June 1794 Little Turtle's forces attacked a supply train and then the fort itself, and about 250 soldiers held out for two days behind the stockade. Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers followed in August, and the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 drew a line that gave the United States most of Ohio. Little Turtle is remembered as saying that further fighting would be suicide for his people. The site has a reconstructed fort and museum, and a limestone monument marks the two battles.

Related sites

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
Fort Recovery State Museum, 1 Fort Site St
Seasonal access
May: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June to August: Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. September and October: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed federal holidays.
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

The Fort Named Recovery

When Wayne's soldiers reached the field in late December 1793, they found what was left of St. Clair's army. Two years after the battle, the ground was still covered with the dead, and the men had to bury them before they could build.

Wayne chose the spot on purpose, and he named the fort Recovery instead of after a hero. It was a message to the nations who had won here: the army was back.

Behind the legend

That Wayne deliberately built on the battlefield and named the fort Recovery is on the museum's history pages and in the Wikipedia article, which notes the site was identified by the large amount of unburied remains on December 25, 1793. The casualty numbers differ: about 900 dead and wounded on one marker, and 656 killed or captured plus 279 wounded in Wikipedia's infobox. The quotation from Little Turtle comes from the museum's own text.

If you go

Walk the reconstructed stockade, read the Native accounts in the museum and see the monument. Add Fallen Timbers to see how the story ended.

Visiting

Status
Open seasonally
Managed by
Ohio History Connection and the village of Fort Recovery
Hours
May: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June to August: Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. September and October: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed federal holidays.
Admission
Adults $5, children 5 to 12 $2; members and children under 5 free.
Phone
800-283-8920
Please note
Confirm before a long drive; one source lists different hours.
Address
1 Fort St, Fort Recovery, OH 45846
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.

Parks nearby

Grand Lake St. Marys State Park
About 25 miles · Ohio's largest inland lake, with camping.
Open
Lake Loramie State Park
About 30 miles · A lake and canal park with camping.
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

Know a place that belongs here, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@fieldnotesohio.com.