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Ohio bills itself as "the heart of it all," for lots of reasons, and Buckeye State residents understand our incredible terrain and fascinating history also make it the heart of weekend getaway travel plans for those living in this part of the country.
A research project by HomeToGo, in which it looked at search and demand data for state parks all over the United States, backs us up. In fact, in its rankings of the top 50 state parks in the country, HomeToGo found Ohio has two of the very best. Hocking Hills State Park, Hocking County, ranked third. Mohican State Park, Loudonville, was fourth.
Other Ohio state parks that made it into the top 50 were John Bryan State Park, Yellow Springs, at 23rd; Buck Creek State Park, Springfield, at 30th; Maumee Bay State Park, Oregon, at 31st; and Indian Lake State Park, Lakeview, at 42nd.
There are 6,792 state park units in the U.S. (Some are parks, some are protected areas.) Six of the best are in Ohio. That is a testament to the work done by those at the state Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio State Parks Foundation, Friends of Ohio State Parks and Ohio History Connection.
But it also is a testament to those who live near and /or work in those state parks. One of the factors used in HomeToGo's rankings was "popularity," and a park does not become popular if it doesn't have helpful, knowledgeable, hard-working people interacting with visitors and making their adventures as pleasant as possible. The communities surrounding our parks deserve some credit for how well Ohio was represented on the list.
If you live here and haven't done much exploring, our state parks are a wonderful place to start. And if you are already a regular park visitor, don't forget to let your out-of-state friends and family know it's time -- particularly as the leaves begin to change -- for a visit to some of the best state parks in the country.