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

Maumee Valley Scenic Byway

Northwest Ohio
Scenic byway · Defiance to Maumee, at Fort Miamis
59miles
1 dayto drive
5stops

A 59-mile drive down the Maumee River from Defiance to Toledo, past forts and battlefields.

Length
59 miles by the state list; one guide gives nearly 90 miles counting both banks
Designated
2000
Route
On the north bank from SR 15 and River Drive in Defiance east through Napoleon, Waterville and Maumee to the site of Fort Miamis; on the south bank from Napoleon on SR 110 and SR 65 through Grand Rapids, Perrysburg and Rossford to I-75
History
Fort Defiance, Fort Meigs and the Fallen Timbers battlefield
Best for
A day of frontier history along a river

The story

The Maumee River was the main route between Lake Erie and the Ohio country, and its rapids were the hinge of the War of 1812 and the Northwest Indian War. Fort Defiance stood where the Auglaize joins the Maumee at Defiance. Near the foot of the rapids the British built Fort Miamis in 1794 and Anthony Wayne defeated the Native confederation at Fallen Timbers, and in 1813 Fort Meigs held out against two sieges.

The byway follows the river through a string of small towns and parks, and it is also the route the Buckeye Trail's Defiance Section takes along the Maumee.

Stops along the way

1 Defiance
Where the Auglaize joins the Maumee, and a Buckeye Trail Town.
2 Independence Dam State Park
A dam and park on the Maumee. Independence Dam State Park.
Open
3 Mary Jane Thurston State Park
Camping and a river beach at Grand Rapids. Mary Jane Thurston State Park.
Open
4 Fort Meigs, Perrysburg
A reconstructed War of 1812 fort. See the Fort Meigs entry.
Open
5 Fallen Timbers and Fort Miamis
The 1794 battlefield and the British fort. See the Fallen Timbers entry.
Open

Take the stops with you

Load the 5 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 5

The file holds 5 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

Independence Dam State Park
A small camping park near Defiance.
Open
Mary Jane Thurston State Park
Camping on the river.
Open
Maumee Bay State Park
A lakeshore park near the byway's end.
Open

Tips

  • Plan a day with Fort Meigs and Fallen Timbers together.
  • Independence Dam camping has no drinking water.

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.