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 Roscoe Village

Coshocton · Coshocton County · East-central Ohio
A restored 1830s canal port with a mule-and-horse canal boat
Ohio & Erie Canal portLiving history village

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 Roscoe Village Visitor Center, 600 N Whitewoman St, Coshocton
Seasonal access
The village is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed Monday. The Monticello III runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day, then weekends through mid-October, with departures at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. from the Canal Boat Landing at Lake Park. Confirm before you go.
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.

A canal port of brick buildings and costumed interpreters, with a horse-drawn canal boat ride on a restored stretch of the Ohio & Erie Canal.

Founded
1816 as Caldersburgh by James Calder; renamed Roscoe in 1831
Canal
The first boat, the original Monticello, arrived on August 21, 1830
Trade
The fourth-largest wheat port on the canal system
End of the canal
The great flood of 1913 washed out the canal at Roscoe, and it was never rebuilt
Restoration
Began in 1968 when Edward and Frances Montgomery bought the 1840 Toll House
Canal boat
The Monticello III, launched in 1990, carries up to 125 passengers on a 45-minute horse-drawn ride

The story

James Calder founded the village in 1816 as Caldersburgh, and it was renamed Roscoe in 1831. When the Ohio & Erie Canal reached it in 1830, the first boat to arrive was the original Monticello, on August 21, named for Thomas Jefferson's home. The canal, hand-dug and finished in 1832, ran 308 miles with 146 locks, and Roscoe became the fourth-largest wheat port along it, a prosperous town of Greek Revival buildings until the 1860s. The railroads took the traffic, though the canal kept running until the flood of 1913 washed out the section at Roscoe. The port then declined and the buildings deteriorated.

The village's revival began in 1960, when the painter Dean Cornwell's mural of a canal scene in Roscoe was shown at Coshocton's sesquicentennial. It inspired the retired industrialist Edward Montgomery and his wife Frances, who bought the 1840 Toll House in 1968 and set out to make Roscoe a living museum. More than 35 years of work followed. Today the village has costumed interpreters, working craftspeople, the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum and the Monticello III, a 74-foot boat that has carried more than 300,000 passengers since 1990. Coshocton also lies along the Wally Road byway, on the route of the old Walhonding Valley railroad.

Related sites

The Town the Canal Made and the Flood Ended

Roscoe was a boomtown on a ditch. For thirty years farmers hauled wheat to its warehouses, packet boats pulled in from Cleveland and Portsmouth, and the town built itself brick storefronts and Greek Revival houses.

The railroads killed the business, and in 1913 a great flood killed the canal. The empty village might have been torn down. A painting saved it.

Behind the legend

The dates for the first boat, the 1913 flood, Cornwell's mural and the Montgomerys' 1968 purchase are in Wikipedia's article and the village's own pages. Ohio's canal is given as 308 miles with 146 locks and as 350 miles of the wider system in different sources. The wheat-port ranking is from a travel account, and the number of passengers is the village's.

If you go

Walk the village, see Triple Locks Park, ride the Monticello III and stop at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum.

Visiting

Status
Open Tuesday to Sunday; canal boat seasonal
Managed by
Roscoe Village Foundation
Hours
The village is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed Monday. The Monticello III runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day, then weekends through mid-October, with departures at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. from the Canal Boat Landing at Lake Park. Confirm before you go.
Admission
Self-guided touring is available; tickets are needed for tours and the canal boat ride (one guide gives $8 for adults). See the village's website.
Phone
740-622-7644
Please note
Arrive at the boat landing 15 to 20 minutes early; weekend rides fill quickly. A major boat restoration is scheduled for fall 2026.
Address
600 N Whitewoman St, Coshocton, OH 43812
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

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

Parks nearby

Mohican State Park
About 35 miles · A gorge and canoe river near Loudonville.
Open
Salt Fork State Park
About 45 miles · Ohio's largest state park.
Open

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