Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
Popular:
  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

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State parks & forests117 places, with cabins, campsites and trails117 places Waterfalls34 falls, with trail notes34 falls Mounds & earthworks64 ancient sites, from Serpent Mound to Newark64 ancient sites Caves & caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters12 caves Lake Erie beaches20 public beaches, Conneaut to Toledo20 beaches Historic sites40 places, from the frontier to the Civil War40 places Road trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail33 drives Oddities19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops19 roadside stops The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile loop, all 26 sections1,444 miles

New to the guide?

Six places to start

One from every corner of the state, each with its full story inside.

01Old Man's CaveHocking Hills · SoutheastA gorge of waterfalls and recess caves where a hermit is said to have lived, with the park's visitor center. 02Great Serpent MoundAdams County · SouthwestA gigantic earthen snake on a hilltop over Ohio Brush Creek, built by a people whose name is still argued over. 03Brandywine FallsCuyahoga Valley · NortheastThe tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, reached by an easy boardwalk with an accessible upper overlook. 04Marblehead LighthouseMarblehead · Lake ErieThe oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, lit since 1821, on nine acres of limestone shoreline. 05Zoar VillageTuscarawas County · EasternA well-preserved communal village founded by German separatists in 1817, on the Ohio & Erie Canal. 06Longaberger Basket BuildingNewark · CentralA seven-story office building shaped like a picnic basket, with handles that are heated in winter.

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Open the mapAll 365 places on one map. Filter by cabins, campsites, hunting, beaches and more.Explore the map → Browse by countyPick any of Ohio's 88 counties and see its parks, mounds, waterfalls and historic sites.Find your county → Build a tripSave places as you browse, then line them up into a weekend. Kept in your browser, nothing to sign up for.Start a trip →

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

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Parks, forests & wildlife areas

Find a park

117 parks in 7 regions

Welsh Scenic Byway

Southeast Ohio (Gallia and Jackson counties)
Scenic byway · Jackson County to Gallia County
34miles
4stops

A drive of 34 to 64 miles on US 35 and SR 93 through the Welsh settlements of Gallia and Jackson counties.

Length
34 miles by the state list; guides give 64
Route
US 35 and SR 93 loops through Gallia and Jackson counties
Connects
Welsh churches, farms and cemeteries, and iron furnaces
Highlights
The Bob Evans Farms Homestead and Raccoon Creek, where Daniel Boone hunted and trapped
Best for
Welsh heritage and pastoral farms

The story

Welsh immigrants settled in southeastern Ohio during the 19th century and developed the countryside, and one of the reasons they stayed was that the hills looked like the part of Wales they came from. The byway connects their chapels, cemeteries, farms and iron furnaces through Gallia and Jackson counties. It passes pastoral farms, including the Bob Evans Farms Homestead, quiet cemeteries and wildlife areas along Raccoon Creek where Daniel Boone hunted and trapped.

Stops along the way

1 Jackson
The Jackson County seat, in iron-furnace country. Buckeye Furnace is nearby.
Open
2 Oak Hill
A Jackson County town on US 35.
3 Bob Evans Farm Homestead
A farmstead on the byway near Rio Grande.
4 Gallipolis
A Gallia County river town where US 35 meets the Ohio River.

Take the stops with you

Load the 4 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 4

The file holds 4 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

Jackson Lake State Park
A furnace-country lake and camping park.
Open
Lake Alma State Park
A small lake park in Wellston.
Open

Tips

  • Look for the Welsh chapels and cemeteries.

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

Dusty Tires: Ohio scenic byways →

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

Know a place that belongs here, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@fieldnotesohio.com.