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

New to the guide?

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

George Deffenbaugh Mound

Laurelville · Hocking County · Southeast Ohio
A ridge-top Adena mound near Laurelville
National Register of Historic Places
Directions →

A small Adena mound on a ridge in Tar Hollow country, with a much younger stone mound nearby.

Size
About 6.5 feet tall and 50 feet in diameter, on about an acre
Setting
On a ridgeline northeast of Laurelville
Excavation
Dug at an unknown date before 1941, with a hole from the crest to the base and a smaller hole in the edge
Neighbor
A stone mound about 0.3 mile away, perhaps built by the Fort Ancient culture, more than a thousand years later
Listed
National Register of Historic Places, 1974

The story

The George Deffenbaugh Mound sits on a ridgeline northeast of Laurelville in Hocking County. It is about 6.5 feet tall and 50 feet across. Someone dug into it at an unknown date before 1941, sinking a hole from the crest to the base and a smaller one into its edge. Its conical shape and location point to the Adena, who were active between about 1000 BCE and 400 CE. About 0.3 mile away stands a stone mound, perhaps built by the Fort Ancient culture more than a thousand years later, so people used this ridge for a very long time. The mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

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.
Location confidence
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Use the listed address for directions; treat the map pin as a general area.

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.

Two Mounds, A Thousand Years Apart

Walk a little way along this ridge near Laurelville and you would pass two burial places built a thousand years apart. One is the Deffenbaugh Mound, an Adena mound of earth. The other, 0.3 mile away, is a mound of stone that may have been raised by the Fort Ancient people long after the Adena had gone.

The hills around Tar Hollow have been someone's home, and someone's cemetery, for a very long time.

Behind the legend

The Adena mound and its stone neighbor are documented in the National Register description, which says the stone mound was perhaps built by the Fort Ancient culture. The digging before 1941 is undated and undocumented beyond the hole itself. Laurelville is the same town as the Tar Hollow entries.

If you go

Read the Tar Hollow State Forest legend about Logan and think about the peoples who lived on these ridges before him.

Visiting

Status
Not developed for visitors
Managed by
Check locally
Hours
There is no public visitor information for this site; do not enter private land.
Please note
Please respect private property.

Parks nearby

Tar Hollow State Park
About 10 miles · State park and campground with a fire-tower camp nearby.
Open
Tar Hollow State Forest
About 10 miles · Backpacking, horse camping and the Logan Trail.
Open
Lake Logan State Park
About 12 miles · A quiet lake near Hocking Hills.
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.