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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Parks, forests & wildlife areas

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117 parks in 7 regions

Highbanks Earthworks & Adena Mounds

Lewis Center · Delaware & Franklin Counties · Central Ohio
A bluff-top wall, two burial mounds and an eagle overlook
National Register of Historic PlacesMetro ParkEdward F. Hutchins State Nature Preserve
Directions →

A wall of engineered clay on a river bluff, and two small Adena mounds in a busy metro park.

Cole Earthwork
A wall about a quarter-mile long, curving out from the bluff, with a moat, built by Late Woodland (Cole culture) people
Wall construction
Engineered with a red clay core, a yellow clay layer and a top layer of topsoil from the ditch
Adena mounds
Two conical burial mounds; the Muma Mound is about 7 feet high and 54 feet across
The bluff
A shale bluff about 110 feet above the Olentangy River, with an observation deck
Preserve
The 206-acre Edward F. Hutchins State Nature Preserve
Park
Highbanks Metro Park, about 1,200 acres, the most visited in the Columbus system

The story

Highbanks Metro Park is named for its steep shale bluff, about 100 to 110 feet above the Olentangy River. People have lived along it for thousands of years. Two small conical mounds built by the Adena more than 2,000 years ago survive in the park, along with the Cole Earthwork, a wall about a quarter-mile long that curves out from the highest point of the bluff, with a moat outside it. Excavation of a section of the wall in 1952 showed it was engineered rather than simply piled up, with a layer of red clay at its core, a layer of yellow clay over that and topsoil from the ditch on top. The clays were carried in from elsewhere.

The earthwork was built by Late Woodland people of the Cole culture, and its purpose is not known. There is no evidence it was used for burials, and it may have enclosed a small village. Its wall and moat back onto the river bluff, like other enclosures along the Scioto, Miami and Olentangy rivers. The park, opened in 1973, became a National Natural Landmark seven years later.

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Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Location confidence
Verified property location
Located from the site's street address

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 Bluff, the Wall and the Eagles

The trail to the overlook passes through an opening in an ancient wall, and most visitors walk through without knowing. The Cole Earthwork curves out from the top of the bluff like a wall around a fort. Below it the Olentangy runs 110 feet down, and from the observation deck people used to be able to see anyone coming. Park accounts note that pre-Columbian people were known to keep watch from high places like this.

Today the watchers are eagles. A pair has nested in a big sycamore upstream of the deck for years, and they are the park's most famous residents.

Behind the legend

The wall is documented and its purpose is not. The moat along its outer wall collects snowmelt each spring and becomes a breeding pond for Jefferson salamanders. The two Adena mounds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with the Highbank Park Works. One of them, the Muma Mound, stands in a former farm field.

Local visitors are often surprised: this is one of the busiest parks in Ohio, and a chunk of ancient engineering sits along its main trail.

If you go

Walk out to the overlook in spring for the eagles and the salamander pond, and look at the wall as you pass through its opening. Then find the Adena mound on the other side of the park.

Visiting

Status
Open
Managed by
Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks
Hours
Check the Metro Parks for hours.
Admission
Free (check the Metro Parks)
Phone
614-846-9962
Please note
Stay on the trails and off the earthworks.
Address
9466 U.S. 23 N, Lewis Center, OH 43035
Directions

Parks nearby

Alum Creek State Park
About 6 miles · A huge lake park with a campground and a Fort Cheshire plaque.
Open
Delaware State Park
About 16 miles · A big camping park on Delaware Lake.
Open

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

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