Ohio

Ohio got its name from the Iroquois word for "Great River" - a reference to the state's lovely southern boundary. Ohio is known for its natural beauty, as well as for its many presidents, astronauts, inventors and other world movers and shakers. Many of their hometowns still preserve humble birthplaces and offer attractions for such favorite sons as presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley and William Howard Taft; actors Bob Hope and Clark Gable; inventors Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers; Shawnee Chief Tecumseh; space pioneers Neil Armstrong and John Glenn; and sausage maker Bob Evans. One of the most ...

Ohio got its name from the Iroquois word for "Great River" - a reference to the state's lovely southern boundary. Ohio is known for its natural beauty, as well as for its many presidents, astronauts, inventors and other world movers and shakers. Many of their hometowns still preserve humble birthplaces and offer attractions for such favorite sons as presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley and William Howard Taft; actors Bob Hope and Clark Gable; inventors Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers; Shawnee Chief Tecumseh; space pioneers Neil Armstrong and John Glenn; and sausage maker Bob Evans. One of the most outstanding prehistoric Indian sites is preserved at Fort Ancient, where the Hopewell Indians built 3.5 miles of earthworks on a bluff overlooking the Little Miami River as a social and ceremonial center. Two popular amusement parks - Kings Island and Cedar Point - provide plenty of thrills and chills. With a wonderfully diverse landscape, Ohio offers miles of rolling rural roads, pastoral farmland, deep forests, rocky Great Lakes shoreline, small Amish villages, exceptional state parks, major industrial cities and peaceful river towns.

About the Expert

Jackie Sheckler Finch has written several guidebooks, including The Unofficial Guide to Campgrounds in the Great Lakes States, and four times she was named Travel Writer of the Year by Midwest Travel Writers Association.