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

Fort Hill Earthworks (Rocky River)

North Olmsted · Cuyahoga County · Northeast Ohio
Three walls on a shale cliff above the Rocky River
National Register of Historic PlacesCleveland Metroparks
Directions →Official source →

A 155-step climb from the Rocky River Nature Center brings you to three long earthen walls cutting across a shale bluff 90 feet above the river.

Walls
Three long earthen walls with ditches across the neck of a shale promontory
Height
About 90 feet above the Rocky River
Age
Believed over 2,000 years old
Stairs
155 steps, rebuilt in 2016 after the shale cliff beside the old stairs moved
Studied
Cleveland State University archaeologists surveyed it in the late 2010s
Listed
National Register of Historic Places, 1974

The story

Fort Hill is a narrow shale bluff about 90 feet above the Rocky River, in Cleveland Metroparks' Rocky River Reservation. Across the neck of the bluff, where it joins the upland, people built three long earthen walls with ditches, and the cliffs guard every other side. Early settlers took that layout for a fort. Cleveland Metroparks dates the walls to more than 2,000 years ago, and despite centuries of erosion all three can still be seen.

Cleveland State University archaeologists ran a survey and geophysics on the site, recorded as 33CU1, in the late 2010s to learn when and how it was built; their full results have not been published for the public, so this entry does not name the builders. The old stairs to the top were removed when the shale cliff beside them moved, and a wider set of 155 steps opened in 2016.

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
Published coordinates
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 Walls Above the Nature Center

Thousands of people a year walk the river below Fort Hill without knowing what is on top. Climb the stairs and the walls are right there, low ridges and hollows running across the bluff in the trees.

Behind the legend

The age and the stairs come from Cleveland Metroparks. Some sources say the walls are Early Woodland; others link the bluff to the later Whittlesey people of northeast Ohio. Until Cleveland State's results are published, the builders are not confirmed here.

If you go

Start at the Rocky River Nature Center, climb the Fort Hill Stairs and walk the loop past the walls. Keep back from the cliff edge.

Visiting

Status
Open
Managed by
Cleveland Metroparks
Hours
Open during Rocky River Reservation hours.
Admission
Free
Please note
The stairs are steep and the cliff edge is unstable shale. Stay on the trail and off the walls.
Official information →Directions

Parks nearby

Hinckley Reservation
About 16 miles · The Cleveland Metroparks reservation famous for the buzzards' return.
Open
Brecksville Reservation
About 16 miles · Cleveland Metroparks gorges and trails at the north end of the valley.
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.