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

The Loveland Frogman

Loveland · Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties
Cryptid legend
Directions →Official source →

A frog-faced creature reported along the Little Miami River in 1955 and again by a police officer in 1972, now the small city's official mascot.

1955 account
A local businessman reportedly told police he saw three leathery, frog-faced creatures, three to four feet tall, near the river at night; no report survives
1972 report
Loveland police officer Ray Shockey said an animal darted in front of his patrol car on Riverside Drive, crouched like a frog, then climbed a guardrail toward the river
Likely explanation
Weeks later, a second officer said he shot and identified the same or a similar animal as an escaped pet iguana missing its tail
Grown in the telling
Decades of retellings, books and a 2023 horror film blurred the 1955 and 1972 accounts into one continuous legend
Made official
In 2023 the City of Loveland adopted the Frogman as its city mascot, appearing at local events
Nearby
Loveland Castle (Chateau Laroche), a stone castle built by hand along the same river, is about a mile or two downstream

The story

Loveland's monster legend has two layers, one reported and one mostly folklore. In 1955, local lore holds that a businessman driving along the Little Miami River late at night saw three small, upright, frog-faced creatures with leathery skin near a bridge; no police report from that year survives, and the story is known mainly through secondhand retellings. The legend gained real documentation on March 3, 1972, when Loveland police officer Ray Shockey reported that an animal darted in front of his patrol car on Riverside Drive near the river. He described a three- to four-foot, leathery creature that crouched like a frog before climbing a guardrail toward the water, and the account was picked up by regional media as the story of the Loveland Frogman.

Within weeks a second officer, Mark Matthews, said he shot and recovered the same or a similar animal in the same stretch of river and identified it as a large pet iguana, missing its tail, likely an escaped pet surviving near a nearby factory's warm water discharge. Matthews has said publicly that the whole episode was a mundane case of a lost reptile blown into a monster story, in part because early accounts left the iguana identification out. The tale kept growing anyway, through books, retellings and a 2023 horror film that blended the unverified 1955 account with the documented 1972 report into one continuous legend. Rather than dispute it, the city leaned in: in 2023 Loveland made the Frogman its official mascot, a lighthearted nod to a monster story that likely started with someone's missing pet.

The 1955 sighting is unverified local lore; the 1972 police report and its likely iguana explanation are the best-documented parts of the story. The map location is approximate, centered on downtown Loveland's riverfront trail.

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
Open; public trail and riverfront
Hours
The Little Miami Scenic Trail and downtown riverfront are open dawn to dusk.
Cost
Free.
Phone
City of Loveland, 513-683-0150
Please note
Stay on the trail; a couple of miles downstream, Loveland Castle offers a separate paid tour.
Address
Little Miami Scenic Trail at W Loveland Ave, Loveland, OH 45140
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

Caesar Creek State Park
About 21 miles · A lake park with a lakeshore trail.
Open
East Fork State Park
About 21 miles · A large lake park east of Cincinnati.
Open

Buckeye Trail

Loveland Section
Near the Buckeye Trail
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.