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

Shrum Mound

West Scioto · Columbus · Central Ohio
One of the last ancient mounds in Columbus
National Register of Historic PlacesOhio History Connection siteNever excavated

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.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified property location
Located from the site's street address
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 2,000-year-old burial mound on a bluff in a Columbus neighborhood, with quarries and condos around it.

Size
About 20 feet high and 100 feet in diameter
Setting
On a high bluff west of the Scioto River, in one-acre Campbell Park
Named for
The Shrum family, who deeded it to the Ohio Historical Society in 1928; the park honors Governor James E. Campbell
Excavation
None; the mound is unexcavated and mostly undisturbed
Listed
National Register of Historic Places, 1970
Steps
Two dirt paths lead to the top

The story

Shrum Mound stands in Campbell Park on McKinley Avenue in Columbus's West Scioto neighborhood, about five miles northwest of downtown. It is a conical Adena burial mound about 20 feet high and 100 feet across, and it is one of the last ancient mounds left in the city. It stands on a high bluff west of the Scioto River, which may once have run closer, and today old quarry pits and newer condominiums surround it. Minnie R. Shrum deeded the site to the Ohio Historical Society in 1928, and the park was dedicated in July 1929 in honor of James E. Campbell, governor of Ohio from 1890 to 1892 and later president of the society.

Franklin County once had well over 100 mounds and two dozen earthworks, and most were lost to development. Four similar burial mounds were lost when the Alum Creek Lake reservoir was built in the early 1970s. Shrum Mound has been left unexcavated. In 2015 the Ohio History Connection removed about 18 trees from its top so that a storm could not topple one and damage the burial site.

Related sites

The Mound Sledders Had to Be Asked to Stop

Shrum Mound is a hill in a city park, and in winter it looks like a perfect sledding slope. In January 2026 the Ohio History Connection had to ask the public to stop using it that way, and its archaeologist reminded everyone what the hill is: a burial site that probably still holds many interments, and sacred ground because of that.

Not so long ago the mound was one of dozens in the county. The others fell to farms, roads and quarries, and four were lost to the lake at Alum Creek.

Behind the legend

The request to stop sledding is documented in the Ohio History Connection's public statement and in news reports. So is the 2015 tree removal and the loss of the four mounds to Alum Creek Lake, which connects Shrum Mound to the Alum Creek State Park entry. The mound itself is intact partly because no one ever dug it.

If you go

Visit in daylight and walk around the base first, then use the paths to the top respectfully. Read the marker about the Shrum family and the Adena.

Visiting

Status
Open daylight hours
Managed by
Ohio History Connection
Hours
Open all daylight hours. Allow about 30 minutes.
Admission
Free
Phone
800-840-6127
Please note
The mound is a burial site and sacred ground. Please do not sled, dig or climb where signs ask you not to.
Address
3141 McKinley Ave, Columbus, OH 43204
Official information →Directions

Parks nearby

Alum Creek State Park
About 15 miles · The big lake whose construction swallowed four Franklin County mounds.
Open
Delaware State Park
About 26 miles · A big camping park on Delaware Lake.
Open

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