National parks in Ohio

95ESSENTIAL NCTA

National Scenic Trail · MI

North Country National Scenic Trail

At nearly 4,800 miles across eight states, the North Country National Scenic Trail is less a single destination than a lifetime project.

People in bright orange kayaks paddle around a bend in a river, past green trees and a rocky shore.

88ESSENTIAL NPS Photo / D.J. Reiser

National Park · OH

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Cuyahoga Valley punches well above its weight for a free urban national park wedged between Cleveland and Akron.

9-3'x5' international flags line sidewalk that leads to a white building with green roof. Tall stone

78EXCELLENT NPS Photo

Memorial · OH

Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial

A 352-foot Doric column rising from a Lake Erie island is a genuinely striking sight, and the surrounding water makes for excellent paddling and birdwatching.

Small waterfall with brown rocks and green moss

74EXCELLENT NPS Photo / Alex Wiles

National Historic Trail · IA

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail

At nearly 4,900 miles across 16 states, this is less a destination than a framework for road-tripping American history.

An early morning sun casting long shadows over grass-covered mounds.

58WORTH IT NPS / Tom Engberg

National Historical Park · OH

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

Hopewell Culture is one of the most underappreciated archaeological sites in America, preserving massive geometric earthworks built by Indigenous people nearly 2,000 years ago.

a front view of the Ida Saxton McKinley House

53NICHE NPS Photo

National Historic Site · OH

First Ladies National Historic Site

This free Canton, Ohio site makes a genuine case for the First Lady as a serious subject of American history, not a footnote.

A three-story brick building with tall green windows and a tall photo mural on the glass wall

51NICHE NPS / Tom Engberg

National Historical Park · OH

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

This free urban park punches above its weight as a dual tribute to two genuinely world-changing legacies born in the same Ohio city.

A large grey house with dark grey shutters with a green lawn out front under a blue sky

50NICHE NPS / Tom Engberg

National Monument · OH

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

This small Ohio monument honors Colonel Charles Young, a Black military pioneer who broke barriers in an era defined by institutional racism, and the recently restored Youngsholm estate is the centerpiece of that story.

Front porch of Garfield home showing red front door

49NICHE NPS Photo

National Historic Site · OH

James A Garfield National Historic Site

Lawnfield, the Garfield family home in Mentor, Ohio, is a genuinely undervisited presidential site that rewards curious history buffs.

A yellow two-story brick building with tall windows and green shutters on them

43NICHE NPS / Tom Engberg

National Historic Site · OH

William Howard Taft National Historic Site

This free Cincinnati site preserves the Greek Revival birthplace of the only American to serve as both president and Chief Justice, which is a genuinely rare dual legacy worth understanding.