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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Open the mapAll 365 places on one map. Filter by cabins, campsites, hunting, beaches and more.Explore the map → Browse by countyPick any of Ohio's 88 counties and see its parks, mounds, waterfalls and historic sites.Find your county → Build a tripSave places as you browse, then line them up into a weekend. Kept in your browser, nothing to sign up for.Start a trip →

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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

World's Largest Teapot

Chester · Hancock County, West Virginia
Giant object · Just over the line in West Virginia
Directions →Official source →

A 14-foot teapot on the West Virginia bank of the Ohio River, built from a root-beer barrel that once belonged to the inventor of the banana split.

Started as
A large wooden barrel built to advertise Hires Root Beer, in the Pittsburgh area in the early 1900s
Golf clubhouse
Later the clubhouse of a miniature-golf course, where Latrobe pharmacist David Strickler, often credited with inventing the banana split, cut in windows and a door
Became a teapot
In 1938, when Babe Devon bought the barrel, moved it to Chester and added a tin spout, lid, handle and glass-ball knob
Size
About 14 feet tall and 14 feet across
Business
Sold ice cream, hot dogs, postcards and china until it closed as a shop around 1980
Moved and restored
Relocated to its current spot near the Jennings Randolph Bridge in 1990, with further restorations in 2007 and 2015

The story

The Chester teapot did not start out as a teapot. It began as an oversized wooden barrel, built in the Pittsburgh area in the early 1900s to advertise Hires Root Beer, and it later became the clubhouse of a miniature-golf course called Big Barrel Links, where the Latrobe pharmacist David Strickler, often credited with inventing the banana split, cut windows and a door into its side. In 1938 a local businessman named Babe Devon bought the barrel and hauled it across the state line to Carolina Avenue in Chester, West Virginia, on the Ohio River across from East Liverpool, Ohio. Anticipating that a new highway would soon bring travelers past the spot, Devon turned the barrel into a giant teapot, adding a tin spout, lid, handle and a glass-ball knob, as a novelty meant to draw attention to the region's pottery industry, which at its peak counted more than 200 potteries in the Chester and East Liverpool area.

For decades the teapot was a working roadside business, selling ice cream, hot dogs, postcards and china, before it closed as a shop around 1980 and passed through several owners while it fell into disrepair. The local telephone company bought the property in 1984, and in 1990 the community moved and restored the teapot to its current site near the Jennings Randolph Bridge ramp, with further repainting and repairs funded by the city in 2007 and 2015. In 2025 a newly built teapot in Navasota, Texas, claimed a larger size, ending Chester's long run as the record holder; the city did not contest the measurement and instead leaned into its status as, in its own words, the original.

One outlier source gives different dimensions (12 feet high by 44 feet wide); most sources, including West Virginia tourism materials, agree on about 14 by 14 feet, which is used here. The address is approximate.

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
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Approximate location, use the 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.

Visiting

Status
Roadside; visible any time
Hours
Outdoor roadside structure, viewable at any time; it no longer operates as a shop.
Cost
Free to look.
Phone
Chester City Hall, 304-387-2820
Please note
Pull off along the road to view and photograph it; Chester holds an annual Teapot Day fundraiser each August for its upkeep.
Address
Carolina Ave near the Jennings Randolph Bridge ramp, Chester, WV 26034
More information →DirectionsShow on the map

The pin on the map is approximate; use the address for directions.

Hours, prices and even the attractions themselves can change. Confirm before a long drive.

Parks nearby

Beaver Creek State Park
About 10 miles · A gorge park with camping near East Liverpool.
Open
Jefferson Lake State Park
About 17 miles · A small lake park near Richmond, Ohio.
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.