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

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

117 parks in 7 regions

Ohio River Scenic Byway

Ohio's southern border
Scenic byway · East Liverpool to Cincinnati area
452miles
3 to 5 daysto drive
9stops

A 452-mile drive along US 50, US 52 and State Route 7 beside the river that made Ohio a free state.

Length
452 miles
Designated
June 1998
Route
East Liverpool at the Pennsylvania border, then SR 39, SR 124, SR 7 and US 52 to US 50 at the Indiana border
Themes
Frontier forts, Underground Railroad stations, mounds and river towns
Best for
A long slow drive through river towns
Designation
An America's Byway and a National Scenic Byway, spanning 14 counties

The story

The Ohio River was the southern border of the Northwest Territory, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 banned slavery north of it, which made it the line between slavery and freedom. Fort Steuben was built on its bank in 1786 to protect surveyors. Enslaved people crossed it to reach Ripley and other stations on the Underground Railroad, and Ohio's early Black Laws restricted the rights of those who stayed. Morgan's raiders tried to cross it at Buffington Island in 1863.

Long before that, the river valley held Hopewell and Adena earthworks at Marietta and Portsmouth, and the Ohio River Scenic Byway now links these with river towns, ferries and small parks from Steubenville to Cincinnati.

Stops along the way

1 Steubenville
Historic Fort Steuben, a reconstructed 1786 fort. See the Fort Steuben entry.
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2 Marietta
The first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory, with earthworks the founders preserved. See Marietta Earthworks.
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3 Muskingum River Parkway
Hand-operated locks on the river from Marietta. Muskingum River Parkway State Park.
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4 Buffington Island
The 1863 battle site in Meigs County on Morgan's raid. See the Morgan Heritage Trail.
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5 Mothman Museum, Point Pleasant, West Virginia
A short drive across the river from Gallipolis. See the Mothman Museum entry.
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6 Portsmouth
Ohio Hopewell earthworks, mostly under the city. See Portsmouth Earthworks.
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7 Ripley
The Rankin House on Liberty Hill, an Underground Railroad station. See the John Rankin House entry.
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8 Point Pleasant
The birthplace cottage of Ulysses S. Grant. See the U.S. Grant Birthplace entry.
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9 Cincinnati
Eden Park, above the river, is the southern end of the Buckeye Trail. Eden Park.
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Take the stops with you

Load the 9 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 9

The file holds 9 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

Forked Run State Park
A small Ohio River park in Meigs County.
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Shawnee State Park
A lodge and campground near Portsmouth.
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Muskingum River Parkway State Park
Locks and river landings from Marietta.
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Tips

  • This is a long route; split it into the upper, middle and lower river.
  • Stop at overlooks; the hills give the river views.
  • Expect slow going through river towns.

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.