25 Ohio Weekend Roadtrip Destinations to Explore This Year

Feel like Royalty at the Historic Loveland Castle & Museum

12025 Shore Drive, Loveland

World War I army medic and Boy Scout troop leader Harry Delos Andrews built Chateau Laroche over the course of 50 years with handmade bricks (formed with quart-sized paper milk cartons) and stones from the nearby Little Miami River. Modeled after European castles, it features towers, a dry moat, hand-tiled ceilings, murder holes and a collection of period weaponry. The castle grounds are available for picnics, overnights and parties and are rumored to be haunted by a variety of ghosts. The castle is open daily, seasonally, for self-guided tours. Tickets cost $5 for adults; children 5 and under are free.

Photo by Brittany Thornton

See the Ancient Mounds at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

16062 State Route 104, Chillicothe

Though the Visitors Center of the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park is currently closed, the grounds are still open to tourists. The 2,000-year-old mounds featured at the park were built by Native Americans as sacred sites. Today, visitors can walk the grounds, appreciate its massive, ancient man-made structures, and learn what may have been used for.

Photo via Hopewell Ohio NPS/Facebook

Take a Women in History Road Trip across Ohio

Multiple Ohio Stops

The 19th Amendment, which granted women's suffrage (aka gave women the right to vote), was officially ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. And to celebrate its centennial, Ohio. Find It Here. has created a Women in History Road Trip with eight stops throughout Ohio. The eight stops take avid history and suffrage fans from Sauder Village’s 1920’s Main Street Experience in Archbold to the International Women’s Air and Space Museum in Cleveland and even makes a stop in Cincinnati at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. There's no time like the present — right before a pivotal election — to remember how your ancestors fought for your right to vote.

Photo by Greg Hume

Take a Tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House

1340 E. High St., Springfield

This historic stop was designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906, and was later renovated into apartments in the 1940s. In 2005, the home was restored back to its original Prairie-style design and currently features a lily pond, lush gardens, and beautiful interior design. Guided tours are offered Tuesday through Sunday.

Photo via Westcott House/Facebook

Go shopping at Waynesville’s “Antiques Capital of the Midwest”

Waynesville, Ohio

The quaint, rural town of Waynesville is home to over 60 shops and restaurants. But with two antique malls and over a dozen antique shops, it’s no surprise that they are considered the “Antiques Capital of the Midwest.”

Photo via Waynesville Shops

Explore Warren County via Train on the LM&M Railroad

16 E. South St., Lebanon

Perhaps the greatest way to soak in the stunning colors of fall is by train ride, and the LM&M Railroad, based out of Lebanon, is ready to share the sights of Southwest Ohio. The railroad operates over 5-15 miles, traveling through Lebanon, Turtle Creek Township and Union Township (and occasionally Mason or Monroe). LM&M Railroad hosts several special rides throughout the year, including the currently sold-out Pumpkin Express and the winter North Pole Express.

Photo via Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad/Facebook

Visit Ulysses S. Grant’s boyhood home in Georgetown

219 E. Grant Ave., Georgetown

18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, spent his youth in Georgetown, Ohio. And you can take a tour of his actual home where he grew up from the ages of 1 year old until he left to attend West Point. The home, a National Historic Landmark, has been restored back to its original 1839 appearance. Visitors can hear Grant speak about his rural Ohio upbringing and how it molded him into the general and president we remember.

Photo via Ohiohistory.org

See the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock in Sugarcreek, Ohio's "Little Switzerland"

Sugarcreek, Ohio

Quaint Sugarcreek, Ohio — known as the gateway to Amish Country — is historically home to a large population of German and Swiss immigrants, thus making this town a hub for Swiss cheese and Alpine-style architecture. Nicknamed “Little Switzerland,” it hosts an annual Ohio Swiss Festival, with Swiss food, dancing, music and games, and is home to the World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock. Built in 1972, this clock, located in the main square, goes off every hour and features a slew of Swiss characters who come out and do a little dance.

Photo via Sugar Creek Little Switzerland/Facebook

Stargaze at the John Glenn Astronomy Park in Hocking Hills

20298 OH-664, Logan

Star-gazing programs have been suspended at the John Glenn Astronomy Park for now due to the pandemic. But the observatory still welcomes socially-distanced, individual star-gazing. A visit to the astronomy park is a perfect addition to a camping excursion at nearby Hocking Hills. Purchase a parking pass online.

Photo via John Glenn Astronomy Park/Facebook

Go Fossil Hunting at the Trammel Fossil Park

10900 Reading Road, Sharonville

Named after the Trammel Family, this undisturbed hillside draws newcomers and paleontology enthusiasts alike for Ordovician-age fossil hunting. The park offers a pavilion with a kiosk to help learn about and identify fossils, as well as a nearby geocaching site. Because the slope is exposed, be sure to bring sun protection for an undisturbed, all-day rock-hunting experience.

Photo via Trammel Fossil Park/Facebook