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

Old Mill Stream Scenic Byway

Northwest Ohio
Scenic byway · Findlay area to Putnam County
52miles
Half a dayto drive
2stops

A pastoral drive along the Blanchard River named for a 1910 song written on its banks.

Length
52 miles
Route
Follows the Blanchard River along US 224 and SR 37 in Putnam and Hancock counties
Designated
2006
The song
'Down by the Old Mill Stream' (1910) by Tell Taylor, a Hancock County native
Best for
Parks, farms and river views

The story

The byway takes its name from the 1910 song 'Down by the Old Mill Stream.' Tell Taylor, born in Hancock County, wrote the tune while he sat on the banks of the Blanchard River. The route follows the river along US 224 and SR 37 through Putnam and Hancock counties, past parks, farms and historic settings.

Stops along the way

1 Findlay
A Hancock County city on the Blanchard River.
2 Ottawa
The Putnam County seat on the Blanchard.

Take the stops with you

Load the 2 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 2

The file holds 2 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

No park in the app is close to this route.

Tips

  • Stop at the river parks.

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.