Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
Try:
The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
›
Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
›
Historic Sites39 places, from Fort Steuben and Zoar to Camp Chase and the Rankin House, from the frontier to the Civil War.
›
Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
›
Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
›
Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
›
Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
›
Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
›

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia27 places277 places77 places73 places35 places519 places1913 places1319 places1916 places168 places810 places1010 places109 places98 places820 places204 places43 places3Barkcamp State Park4 places47 places77 places76 places69 places917 places173 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places2Forked Run State Park3 places32 places26 places610 places103 places32 places2

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

117 parks in 7 regions

Historic Fort Steuben

Steubenville · Jefferson County · Eastern Ohio
A frontier fort rebuilt on its original site
Reconstructed on the original siteNational Trust Distinctive Destination

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
Historic Fort Steuben, 120 S 3rd St, Steubenville
Seasonal access
May to October: Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The visitor center and museum shop are open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. all year.
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 frontier fort that gave Steubenville its name, rebuilt on its original bluff above the Ohio River.

Built
1786–1787 by the First American Regiment under Major John Hamtramck
Purpose
To protect the surveyors mapping the Seven Ranges of the Northwest Territory
Named for
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, the Prussian officer who drilled Washington's army
Rebuilt
Eight furnished buildings on the original site, built in the 1980s
Next door
The First Federal Land Office, an original 1801 building
Event
Ohio Valley Frontier Days on the first weekend of June

The story

In 1786 Congress sent surveyors into the land west of the Ohio River to lay out the Seven Ranges, land the Native nations of the region had not agreed to give up, and soldiers went with them. That fall Major John Hamtramck's men of the First American Regiment chose a high bank above the river, about 120 yards back from the water, and built a square fort with a blockhouse on each corner. The site was picked on October 11, 1786, and the fort was finished early in 1787. Its purpose, in the words of its own history, was to protect the surveyors from hostile Native people, and the survey they guarded was the thing those people objected to. It took the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 and the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 to open most of Ohio to settlement.

The city that grew up around the site took its name from the fort, and the fort took its name from Baron von Steuben, the Prussian drillmaster of Washington's army. A nonprofit, the Old Fort Steuben Project, rebuilt it on its original ground in the 1980s, using documents and archaeology. Eight furnished buildings show the soldiers' quarters, guardhouse, hospital and commissary, and an original 1801 federal land office stands beside them.

Related sites

The Fort Built for the Surveyors

The first thing Ohio's government did with the country west of the river was measure it. Men with chains and compasses laid out the Seven Ranges, and every party needed guards, because the Native nations there had not agreed to any of it. Fort Steuben was built to shelter the soldiers who kept the surveyors alive.

It stood for only a short time. When the survey moved on, the fort's reason for existing went with it, and the town that took its name outlasted the walls by centuries.

Behind the legend

The 1786 site selection, the 1787 completion, Hamtramck's role and the purpose of protecting surveyors are in the Wikipedia and Old Fort Steuben accounts, which quote Major Erkuries Beatty's description of the fort. What happened to the original after 1787 is less documented, and the entry does not fill the gap. The reconstruction is a modern one, based on documents and an archaeological dig.

If you go

Walk the stockade and blockhouses, then step next door into the 1801 land office, one of the few original buildings from the survey era.

Visiting

Status
Open May to October
Managed by
Old Fort Steuben Project, a nonprofit
Hours
May to October: Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The visitor center and museum shop are open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. all year.
Admission
An admission donation; tickets are required.
Phone
740-283-1787
Please note
Hours are listed differently by different sources, so call before a long drive.
Address
120 S 3rd St, Steubenville, OH 43952
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

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

Parks nearby

Beaver Creek State Park
About 25 miles · A gorge, canal ruins and a camping park to the north.
Open
Tappan Lake Park
About 30 miles · A big camping lake to the west.
Open

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