Historic National Road - Ohio
Historic National Road - Ohio is an All-American Road in Ohio. Within Ohio it covers roughly 230 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Historic National Road - Ohio with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Ohio's stretch of the Historic National Road runs 225 miles from Bridgeport, across the river from Wheeling, West Virginia, to the Indiana line near Richmond. It's part of the Historic National Road All-American Road, a 2002 federal designation shared with Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois along America's first federally funded highway. The Ohio segment crosses 10 counties and a string of old "pike towns" that grew up around stagecoach stops in the early 1800s, including New Concord, home to the John and Annie Glenn Historic Site, the National Road-Zane Grey Museum, and a rare surviving section paved in brick. Most of the original alignment became US 40 once the national highway numbering system arrived in 1926, but long stretches still carry the older, slower two-lane feel.
- 225 miles across Ohio
- All-American Road (2002)
- John & Annie Glenn Historic Site
- National Road-Zane Grey Museum
- historic brick-paved sections
- 10 Ohio counties
Designated for its historic and cultural qualities
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Places to stop along Historic National Road - Ohio
St. Clairsville Historic District
A courthouse town platted in 1803 whose Main Street, the National Road itself, keeps a long run of early brick buildings.
Hendrysburg
An 1828 road town, birthplace of Hopalong Cassidy actor William Boyd, where three generations of the road can be seen side by side.
Salt Fork S-Bridge
A stone bridge with an S-curve, built so the span could cross the creek at a right angle, a signature of early National Road engineering.
Guernsey County Courthouse
Cambridge's 1883 Second Empire courthouse, its clock tower rising over a downtown known for Dickens-themed holiday displays.
John and Annie Glenn Historic Site
The astronaut's boyhood home in New Concord, restored to the 1930s-40s, telling the story of John and Annie Glenn's lives.
WebsiteNational Road and Zane Grey Museum
A museum near Norwich with a long diorama of the road, its Conestoga wagons and cars, and a gallery on Western writer Zane Grey.
Y-Bridge
Zanesville's famous Y-shaped bridge, where you can cross the river and still end up on the same side.
Nelson T. Gant House
The home of a man born enslaved who bought his wife's freedom, became a wealthy Zanesville landowner, and aided the Underground Railroad.
Franklin Park Conservatory
A Victorian glasshouse and botanical garden in Columbus, known for its Chihuly glass collection.
Website
Where to Stay along Historic National Road - Ohio
5 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Historic National Road - Ohio.
Campsite, lodging, RV rental and membership links are affiliate links — booking through them may earn Road Sorties a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Recreation.gov links are not affiliate links.
Photos of Historic National Road - Ohio
What is an All-American Road?
All-American Roads are the top tier of America's National Scenic Byways. To earn the title a road has to be a destination in its own right — offering features so exceptional, across several intrinsic qualities (scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational), that they can't be found anywhere else.