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
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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

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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

Muskingum River Parkway State Park

Zanesville to Marietta · Muskingum, Morgan & Washington Counties · Southeast Ohio
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
120acres
—trail miles
1841established
Directions →Official source →

The story of this land

Before roads, there was the river, and the Muskingum was the way in. In 1824 steamboats joined the flatboats and keelboats on the river, and public support for improving it grew. West Point graduate Major Samuel Curtis designed a system of ten dams and eleven locks to make the river navigable, and it was finished in 1841, connecting Marietta on the Ohio River to the Ohio and Erie Canal at Dresden. In effect it linked the Ohio River to Lake Erie, and it opened the interior of Ohio to trade.

The locks are still worked by hand. Boaters can travel from Marietta to Zanesville, with ten of the eleven locks still functional, on what ODNR calls Ohio's only operational hand-operated lock system, one of the last in the country. It is on the National Register of Historic Places as the Muskingum River Navigation Historic District, and in July 2001 the American Society of Civil Engineers named it a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, alongside Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. Rokeby Lock #8 reopened in 2025, restoring the full run from Marietta to Zanesville for the first time since 2020.

Ellis Lock #11, the northernmost lock, no longer works, but its grounds are now a campground. The Muskingum's south end at Marietta was the site of the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory, founded in 1788.

Things to do in the park

  • Camp at Ellis Lock #11 with a boat ramp and fishing
  • Boat through the hand-operated locks, free for recreational boats
  • Camp by boat at any lock site if you are traveling the river
  • Picnic at the shelter south of Lock #7 on State Route 376
  • Watch lockmasters open the historic locks

Trails

Maps, reviews and recent trail reports for Muskingum River Parkway State Park.

Find trails on AllTrails →

Things to do nearby

  • Jesse Owens State Park and Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area, next door near McConnelsville
  • Zanesville, home of the Y-Bridge, and Historic Roscoe Village farther north
  • Dresden, where the navigation met the Ohio and Erie Canal, a short drive north
  • Marietta, at the southern end of the river
  • Woodbury Wildlife Area near Coshocton

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
ODNR park finder (search this park)
Location confidence
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Ellis Lock 11 (one access point on a 112-mile linear park)
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
ReserveOhio — camping and cabin bookings
Hunting or permits
Hunting is limited on the parkway lands. Check with the park office for designated areas and current Ohio regulations.

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

A short hiking trail of about a mile plus riverbank walking at the lock sites. The main route is the river itself, by boat.

Wildlife you might see

  • River birds and waterfowl along the Muskingum
  • Fish in the river and the lock pools
  • Wooded hills and river bottoms along the corridor

Birding

Muskingum River Parkway State Park follows a river corridor, so its wooded banks draw both forest songbirds and river-edge birds — watch the water for herons, kingfishers and waterfowl, and the tree line for songbirds.

  • Belted Kingfisher
  • American Redstart
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Osprey
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Bald Eagle
  • Carolina Chickadee
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Tree Swallow
  • Carolina Wren

March–May and September–November, during waterfowl migration, are liveliest on the water. For a full, current checklist, search this park's name on eBird's Hotspot Explorer.

Fishing

  • The Muskingum River offers fishing at each lock site. Ohio fishing license required for ages 16 and up.

Hunting

Hunting is limited on the parkway lands. Check with the park office for designated areas and current Ohio regulations.

The River You Can Still Crank

On most rivers the locks are automatic. Here they are hand-cranked. In 1841 the Muskingum became a navigable waterway, thanks to a West Point graduate, Major Samuel Curtis, who designed a system of ten dams and eleven locks to link Marietta on the Ohio River with the Ohio and Erie Canal at Dresden. Steamboats had been working the river since 1824, and the locks made it a real road. Today ten of the eleven locks still work, and boaters can travel from Marietta to Zanesville at no charge, with lockmasters turning the gates by hand.

The northern lock, Ellis Lock #11, no longer functions, and its grounds are a campground.

Behind the legend

ODNR's own park page makes two different claims. One line says the park operates the only complete system of hand-operated locks in the U.S., and another says it is one of only two remaining systems. The two claims cannot both be right, so the entry says it is one of the last. The rest is well documented: the system was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in July 2001, it is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was designated an Ohio state park in 1958.

Recent history matters too. A key lock, Rokeby Lock #8, had been closed since 2020 and reopened in 2025, restoring the full run from Marietta to Zanesville. Lock hours change every season, so check before you go.

If you go

If you have a boat, lock through and see the gates turned by hand. If not, watch a lockmaster at work at McConnelsville Lock. If you camp at Ellis Lock #11, walk to the dam and picture the boats that used to lock through here.

Road trips through Muskingum River Parkway State Park

Scenic byways and heritage drives that pass this park or run close to it.

Ohio River Scenic Byway

Ohio's southern border
Locks and river landings from Marietta.
Scenic byway452 miles
East Liverpool to Cincinnati area

Covered Bridge Scenic Byway

Southeast Ohio
River locks and landings from Marietta.
Scenic byway35 miles
Marietta to Woodsfield

The Buckeye Trail at Muskingum River Parkway State Park

Ohio's 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop passes through or beside this park. Tap a section for its route, camping, water and resupply.

6 Stockport Section

58 miles · Morgan, Noble
Stockport Lock on the Muskingum River
2 parks

Campsites

Ellis Lock #11 Campground
About 19 to 20 primitive sites · water, picnic tables, fire rings and latrines · pets allowed · closed for winter (Nov 1 to Mar 31)
$19–23/night
Luke Chute (Lock #5)
8 primitive sites · for boaters
$19–23/night

On site

  • Boat ramp at Ellis Lock #11
  • Water, latrines, picnic tables and fire rings at Ellis
  • All lock areas allow camping for boaters in transit
  • Picnic shelter at Lock #7
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 "Muskingum River Parkway State Park" there to finish reserving.
Prefer the phone?740-558-6040

Ellis Lock #11 is the drive-up campground at 1390 Ellis Dam Road north of Zanesville, and Luke Chute is boat-in. Lock hours change with the season (mostly weekends in spring and fall, Friday to Monday in summer, with a lunch closure), and river levels can close a lock, so check ODNR before a boat trip. The park office is at Jesse Owens State Park, so the number is shared with that park.

Restaurants nearby

The Warehouse (Dresden)
Eclectic menu near the Y-Bridge; closed Sunday and Monday
Directions
Scottie's Den
Diner comfort food and pies; closed Sunday
Directions
Muddy Misers Restaurant
Riverfront deck in downtown Zanesville; closed Sunday
Directions

Gas stations nearby

Certified Oil
In Dresden, open daily
Directions
Circle K
24 hours in Dresden
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.