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
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  • 40historic sites
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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

Logan Elm State Memorial

Circleville · Pickaway County · Central Ohio
Where Logan's 1774 lament was read, by tradition
State memorialOhio History Connection site
State Route 361 at Wolfe Road, south of Circleville Directions →Official source →

A small memorial park where, by tradition, the Mingo leader Logan's 1774 lament for his murdered family was read under a giant elm.

The speech
Logan's Lament, sent by the Mingo leader Logan after his family was killed at Yellow Creek in 1774
The council
Peace talks at Camp Charlotte ended Lord Dunmore's War; Logan refused to attend
The tree
A giant elm, once thought the largest in the United States, that stood until 1964
Today
A plaque where the elm stood, a monument with the text of the speech and a new elm planted in 2012
Managed
Owned by the Ohio History Connection and run by Pickaway County Parks
Memorial
Made a state memorial in 1912

The story

In the spring of 1774, settlers at Yellow Creek on the upper Ohio River killed members of the family of Logan, a Mingo leader known for his friendship toward the colonists. The killings helped set off Lord Dunmore's War. That fall, after the Battle of Point Pleasant, Dunmore met the Shawnee and their allies to make peace at Camp Charlotte, in the Pickaway Plains. Logan refused to come. Instead he sent a speech, carried by an interpreter, mourning that "there runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature."

Tradition holds that the speech was given or read under a great elm here. Thomas Jefferson later printed it, and it became one of the most famous speeches in American history. The elm, weakened by Dutch elm disease, died after storm damage in 1964; a plaque marks where it stood, a stone monument carries the speech, and a new elm was planted in 2012. The Ohio History Connection owns the memorial and Pickaway County Parks runs it.

Related sites

Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed
November 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
Logan Elm State Memorial, State Route 361 at Wolfe Road, south of Circleville
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.

Who Is There to Mourn for Logan?

Logan would not come to the peace council. His family was dead, killed by men he had called friends, and he had taken his revenge. He sent words instead, and they ended: who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.

Under the elm, the officers listened.

Behind the legend

Logan's speech is real and was printed by Thomas Jefferson in Notes on the State of Virginia. That it was delivered at this exact elm rests on tradition, as the state marker says. Logan is usually called Mingo; the Ohio History Connection calls him Cayuga.

If you go

Read the speech on the monument, find the plaque where the old elm stood, then drive on to Great Council State Park and the Chillicothe earthworks.

Visiting

Status
Open; confirm hours
Managed by
Ohio History Connection, with Pickaway County Parks
Hours
Open during daylight; check with Pickaway County Parks for current hours.
Admission
Free.
Please note
The monuments stand in the grass with no paths. There is a shelter and gravel parking but no restrooms.
Address
State Route 361 at Wolfe Road, about 5 miles south of Circleville, OH
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

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

Parks nearby

Great Seal State Park
About 8 miles · The hills on the Ohio state seal, with rugged trails.
Open
A.W. Marion State Park
About 9 miles · Hargus Lake, ringed by a five-mile trail.
Open

Details last checked 2026-11-05. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

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