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.
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Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
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Historic Sites39 places, from Fort Steuben and Zoar to Camp Chase and the Rankin House, from the frontier to the Civil War.
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Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
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Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
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Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
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Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
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Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
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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

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117 parks in 7 regions

Ohio Art Corridor

Appalachian Ohio
Heritage drive · Circleville to Portsmouth
Varieslength
2 daysto drive
6stops

A public-art route of murals, big sculptures and galleries through Appalachian Ohio's towns.

Towns
Circleville, Lancaster, Athens, McConnelsville, Zanesville and Portsmouth
Highlights
The Ohio Glass Museum in Lancaster, the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, the Ohio River floodwall murals in Portsmouth and Zanesville's arts community
Best for
A slow drive between small cities

The story

The Ohio Art Corridor is a public art trail that winds through Ohio's Appalachian region, incorporating existing pieces of art in Circleville, Lancaster, Athens, McConnelsville, Zanesville and Portsmouth. It links the Ohio Glass Museum in Lancaster, the growing arts community of downtown Zanesville, the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens and the murals painted on the Ohio River floodwall in Portsmouth, among many other stops.

Stops along the way

1 Circleville
A Pickaway County city with murals and public art.
2 Lancaster
Home of the Ohio Glass Museum.
3 Athens
The Dairy Barn Arts Center and a college town.
4 McConnelsville
A Morgan County seat on the Muskingum River. Jesse Owens State Park.
Open
5 Zanesville
A growing downtown arts community; also on the National Road. See the National Road.
Open
6 Portsmouth murals
Murals on the Ohio River floodwall. Portsmouth Earthworks are nearby.
Open

Take the stops with you

Load the 6 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 6

The file holds 6 waypoints and a stop-by-stop route line. Locations are approximate, often a town center, so use the stop notes to find the exact spot. Your maps app chooses the roads between stops, usually the fastest, so follow the byway signs where they differ. The GPX arrives in a zip file; unzip it and open the .gpx in a GPS or hiking app. The CSV imports into Google My Maps.

Where to camp nearby

Hocking Hills State Park
Gorges and caves near Lancaster and Athens.
Open
Burr Oak State Park
A lodge and lake park near Athens.
Open

Tips

  • Plan around gallery hours.

Distances are the route lengths given by the sources. Confirm road conditions, closures and seasonal hours before you go.

Dusty Tires: Ohio routes →

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