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

Hocking Hills Scenic Byway

Southeast Ohio
Scenic byway · Hocking Hills State Park to Rockbridge
26.4miles
Half a dayto drive
3stops

A 26-mile drive along State Route 374 through the gorges and caves of the Hocking Hills.

Length
26.4 miles
Designated
May 2004
Route
All of SR 374 from Hocking Hills State Park to US 33 at Rockbridge, plus pieces of SR 56 and SR 664 that make a loop at the southern end
Buckeye Trail
The Old Man's Cave Section runs through the same country
Best for
A short drive tied to hikes
Things to do
Hiking, cabins, zip lines, horseback riding, canoeing and hot air ballooning
Designation
An America's Byway

The story

The Hocking Hills are a maze of sandstone gorges, caves and waterfalls in southeast Ohio, and SR 374 runs through the heart of them. The byway starts in Hocking Hills State Park, where Old Man's Cave and Ash Cave are, and runs to Rockbridge on US 33. The Buckeye Trail's Old Man's Cave Section follows the gorge trails, including the Grandma Gatewood Trail.

The byway is short enough to combine with hiking, camping and cabin stays in the forest and the state park.

Stops along the way

1 Hocking Hills State Park
Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. Hocking Hills State Park.
Open
2 Hocking State Forest
Quiet woodland and a horse camp. Hocking State Forest.
Open
3 Rockbridge
The byway's west end on US 33.

Take the stops with you

Load the 3 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 3

The file holds 3 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
The heart of the byway.
Open
Hocking State Forest
A state forest along the road.
Open

Tips

  • Come on a weekday, since the parking lots fill by mid-morning on weekends.
  • Plan the drive around your hikes.

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

Ohio scenic byways list →

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