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

Great Seal State Park

Chillicothe · Ross County
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
1,682acres
5trail miles
1979established
4908 Marietta Rd, Chillicothe Directions →Official source →

The story of this land

Look at the Ohio state seal: a sun rising over a range of rounded peaks, a sheaf of wheat and a bundle of seventeen arrows in front. Those peaks are not decorative. The ridge is Mount Logan, and the hills behind it are the ones you hike here.

The story goes that in the early 1800s, when Chillicothe was Ohio's first capital, a small group met at Thomas Worthington's estate, Adena, to work out what the new state's seal should look like. Worthington was the father of Ohio statehood and its first U.S. senator; with him were Edward Tiffin, the first governor, and William Creighton, the first secretary of state. They talked all night. At dawn they walked outside and watched the sun come up over Mount Logan and this ridgeline, and that was the image. The wheat stood for Ohio's farms, the seventeen arrows for the seventeenth state in the Union, the thirteen sun rays for the original colonies.

Mount Logan carries its own weight. It's named for Chief Logan, the Mingo leader whose lament — delivered after frontier settlers murdered his entire family — became one of the most quoted pieces of Native American oratory in early American history. And before any of that, this was Shawnee country. Three Shawnee towns, all named Chillicothe, stood below these hills. The intersection of five major Native trails lay just north. Tecumseh was born not far from here. Geologically, this is the ragged western edge of the Allegheny Plateau, where flat glaciated farmland gives way to deeply eroded unglaciated country — which is exactly why the trails go from gentle to brutal in about a hundred yards. Hikers consistently rate these among the hardest climbs in Ohio.

Things to do in the park

  • Climb Sugarloaf Mountain or Bunker Hill for the Scioto Valley views
  • 18-hole disc golf course
  • The COVID-19 Pandemic Memorial Grove, opened 2021 — 15 native Ohio trees and a paved walkway
  • Primitive campsites
  • Mountain biking and horseback riding on the multi-use system

Trails

Maps, reviews and recent trail reports for Great Seal State Park.

Find trails on AllTrails →

Things to do nearby

  • Adena Mansion — Worthington's estate, where the seal was conceived, now a state memorial
  • Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and the Mound City Group
  • The outdoor drama 'Tecumseh' at Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre in summer
  • Scioto Trail State Park, just south of Chillicothe

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
ODNR park finder (search this park)
Location confidence
Verified property location
Great Seal State Park, 4908 Marietta Rd, Chillicothe
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
ReserveOhio — camping and cabin bookings
Hunting or permits
Check current park regulations before planning a hunt here; the park is relatively small and heavily used by hikers and riders.

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.

Hiking trails

About 5 miles of nature trail plus roughly 17 miles of multi-use trail open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding — around 22 miles total. The climbs are short but genuinely steep; Sugarloaf and Bunker Hill are the ones people talk about afterward.

Wildlife you might see

  • White-tailed deer and wild turkey
  • Hardwood ridge forest with strong fall color
  • Raptors riding the thermals over the ridgelines
  • Spring wildflowers in the hollows

Birding

Great Seal State Park's unglaciated hill-country forest is classic Appalachian warbler habitat — listen for these species in the canopy and understory during the late-spring dawn chorus.

  • Ruffed Grouse (increasingly uncommon)
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Cerulean Warbler
  • Eastern Wood-Pewee
  • Worm-eating Warbler
  • Acadian Flycatcher
  • Kentucky Warbler
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Hooded Warbler
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Louisiana Waterthrush
  • Blue-headed Vireo

Late April into May, for spring warbler migration and the dawn chorus, is the best time to visit. For a full, current checklist, search this park's name on eBird's Hotspot Explorer.

Fishing

  • No significant fishing water inside the park — this is a hiking and ridgeline park. The Scioto River runs in the valley below.

Hunting

Check current park regulations before planning a hunt here; the park is relatively small and heavily used by hikers and riders.

The Sunrise That Made the Seal

Ohio's founders are said to have stayed up all night. It was 1802 and 1803, the constitution was done, and the new state still needed a seal. The tradition places the men at Thomas Worthington's estate, Adena, in Chillicothe: Worthington, the first governor Edward Tiffin, and the first secretary of state, William Creighton. When they stepped outside at dawn, the sun was rising over a ridge across the Scioto Valley. They agreed that was the picture, and Creighton put it on paper.

That ridge is Mount Logan, and the hills in front of it are the ones that make up Great Seal State Park. The seal shows the sun peeking over the mountain with thirteen rays, a sheaf of wheat for farming, and seventeen arrows because Ohio was the seventeenth state. A river runs between the fields and the peak, and it is the Scioto.

Behind the legend

Nobody wrote down the all-night meeting, which is why ODNR's own marker says the design is 'said to have been' the joint inspiration of Worthington, Tiffin and Creighton, and why a second park sign calls it historical lore. What is documented is the paper trail. Ohio's lawmakers described the first state seal in 1803, with wheat, seventeen arrows and a mountain in the background, and the design was changed many times before the General Assembly approved the present one in 1967 and tweaked it in 1996. The 'mountains' on the first seal became the more honest hills.

The place names hold up better than the meeting. The Shawnee had three towns called Chillicothe below these hills, and the Scioto was their road. Mount Logan is said to be named for Chief Logan, the Mingo leader, and his famous speech was reportedly made not far from here (see the Tar Hollow entry for the full story). Look at the seal on any state document and you are looking at this valley, however the decision was actually made.

If you go

Come at sunrise and climb to a ridge with a view east or north across the Scioto Valley. Then drive into Chillicothe and visit Adena, Worthington's estate, to stand where the story says the founders stood. The trails here are steep, so give yourself extra time.

Mounds & earthworks near Great Seal State Park

Ancient earthworks within easy reach of this park. Tap one for its history, legends and visiting details.

Mound City Group

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
A city of mounds along the Scioto, buried under an army camp and then put back.
Can visitHopewell Culture National Historical Park
About 3 miles from this park · About 200 BCE to 500 CE

Hopeton Earthworks

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
Geometry you have to imagine, now traced in mown grass below an overlook.
Can visitHopewell Culture National Historical Park
About 3 miles from this park · About 2,000 years ago

Story Mound (Chillicothe)

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
A neat Adena mound in a Chillicothe neighborhood, opened in 1897 to reveal the outline of a wooden house.
Can visitNational Register of Historic Places
About 3 miles from this park · About 800 BCE to 100 CE

Adena Mound & Adena Mansion

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
A governor's estate gave its name to the whole Adena culture, and its view gave Ohio its seal.
Can visitType site of the Adena culture
About 4 miles from this park · Carbon dated to about 100 BCE to 40 CE (the Adena culture, about 800 BCE to 100 CE)

High Bank Works

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
The one Hopewell park site you cannot walk, with astronomy built into its walls.
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
About 5 miles from this park · About 2,000 years ago

David Stitt Mound

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
A sizable Adena mound near Chillicothe, listed for what may still lie inside it.
National Register of Historic Places
About 6 miles from this park · Adena period

Hopewell Mound Group

Chillicothe · Ross County · Southern Ohio
The place the Hopewell culture is named for, and the largest Hopewell mound anywhere.
Can visitHopewell Culture National Historical Park
About 7 miles from this park · About 100 BCE to 500 CE

Circleville Works (lost)

Circleville · Pickaway County · Central Ohio
Circleville was laid out in rings inside a Hopewell circle in 1810, then squared street by street until nothing was left but the name.
Ohio Historical Marker
About 14 miles from this park · The early centuries CE

Historic sites near Great Seal State Park

Forts, villages, furnaces and lighthouses within reach of this park. Tap one for its story and visiting details.

Logan Elm State Memorial

Circleville · Pickaway County · Central Ohio
A small memorial park where, by tradition, the Mingo leader Logan's 1774 lament for his murdered family was read under a giant elm.
State memorial
About 8 miles from this park · 1774

Campsites

Primitive campsite
Basic sites; this is a hiking park first
$19–23/night

On site

  • Primitive camping
  • Disc golf course
  • Picnic areas
  • Multi-use trail system
  • Memorial Grove walkway
Continue to ReserveOhio →
Field Notes Ohio isn't connected to ReserveOhio, so it can't hold a site or take payment. Tapping through opens it in a new tab — search "Great Seal State Park" there to finish reserving.
Prefer the phone?740-887-4818

Administered through Tar Hollow State Park. The trails here are steeper than the mileage suggests — plan for more time than the distance implies.

Restaurants nearby

Old Canal Smoke House
Barbecue in a beautiful old building downtown. Closed Wednesdays
Directions
Bell Farms
Home cooking in an old house; brisket and pie. Thu–Sun only
Directions
Dock At Water
Pub food and sports, open daily
Directions

Gas stations nearby

Sheetz
24 hours, north side of town toward the park
Directions
Speedway
24 hours in downtown Chillicothe
Directions

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.