Exploring the creepy and long-forgotten abandoned places in Ohio can be fun - if you like that sort of thing, anyway. From deserted amusement parks to old factories being reclaimed by nature, Ohio certainly has an interesting mix of abandoned places. The following road trip takes you to nine of those places, with a total drive time of just under 9.5 hours.
(Please note: Trespassing may be prohibited in some of these areas, so proceed at your own risk. Remember to observe from afar and always use caution to ensure you don't stroll onto private property.)
Grab a friend or two, pack up the car with all the road trip essentials, start at the abandoned destination nearest you, and work your way to the others. Tap or click on the Google Map above (complete with exact locations and addresses of the destinations) to follow along with the itinerary.
1. Cleveland's abandoned subway
In terms of abandoned places in Ohio, the Detroit-Superior Bridge, (also known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge), is definitely creepy. It's a 3,112 ft. long arch bridge over the Cuyahoga River, linking Detroit Avenue and Superior Avenue. When cars pass over this bridge, they’re also passing over a lower streetcar level that hasn’t been in operation since 1954. Today, the streetcar level remains vacant and closed off. However, a few times a year the Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office opens the system to the public—allowing urban explorers to venture through the lonely (and slightly eerie) tunnels.
2. Geauga Lake Amusement Park
Next up on our abandoned places in Ohio road trip: Geauga Lake Amusement Park. What was once the world’s largest theme park is now an overgrown land of decaying roller coasters, empty concession stands and abandoned ticket booths that welcome visitors no more. Geauga Lake Amusement Park has stood abandoned since 2007, after a long history of beloved family vacations (since 1887) and multiple expansions and redesigns.
Please note: Much of the park is now demolished, and no roller coasters stand at the site anymore. Nonetheless, telltale signs of the former amusement park can be seen in the landscape.
3. Helltown
The people of the former town of Boston Mills (located in northern Summit County and now more commonly referred to as Helltown, one of the creepies of ."Ohio’s abandoned places"). They were ordered by the U.S. government to leave the town in the early 70s. Whether Satanic activity, government conspiracy or mutated citizens led to the town's sudden evacuation, the abandoned homes, buildings and streets are said to be haunted today by the spirits of those who didn't want to leave. (That's what local legend asserts, however. Officially, the establishment of Cuyahoga Valley National Park was the reason why residents were ordered to leave.)
4. Chippewa Lake Amusement Park
Tucked away in Medina County there’s a rusted, long forgotten ferris wheel. What what was once Chippewa Lake Park is now just a few piles of amusement park ruins and the lone ferris wheel. From 1878 to 1978, the amusement park was a popular, thriving destination for family entrainment. Today, the nearby Medina County Historical Society houses the former amusement park’s welcome sign, and although the Big Dipper is no longer standing, various remnants of the park’s rides still remain.
5. Molly Stark Hospital
What was once the Molly Stark Mental Hospital in Louisville, Ohio, is now a long-forgotten facility with decaying structures, lonely hallways and a restless spirit or two—or so some speculate. This former tuberculosis hospital in northeastern Ohio, (often referred to as "Molly Stark Park,") was constructed in the 1920s in the Spanish Revival-style. It officially closed down in the mid-90s. Today, the surrounding grounds are a public park, and the asbestos filled facility is rumored to be haunted and slated for demolition. (Trespassing is prohibited.)
6. Bieber Mill
Very little is left of this early 1800s mill town in Delaware County. Stone bridge pillars and the skeleton of Bieber's Mill are all that remain of this long forgotten town in Ohio. The ruins of the old mill, which was built in 1840, (pictured) sit along the Olentangy River in Delaware near the Ohio Wesleyan University.
7. Moonville
The abandoned coal mining town of Moonville is one of the creepiest abandoned places in Ohio to visit in southeastern Ohio (Vinton County). It was founded in 1856, when the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad ran through the area's woods. One structure of the town that remains today is the Moonville Tunnel; a haunted tunnel where legend has it the ghost of a man who was killed instantly by a train passing through the tunnel wanders along the track bed near the old tunnel at night.
8. Peters Cartridge Company
The little town of King’s Mill houses the building of a once thriving industry that now standsabandoned places , with select portions undergoing renovations. Bullets and explosives are no longer made here—but I wouldn’t be surprised if you faintly and mysteriously heard the sounds associated with them.
9. Cincinnati's abandoned subway
Not many people are aware of the dark, lonely and long-forgotten subway beneath the streets of Cincinnati -- the country’s longest abandoned subway system that never transported a single individual. Located under Central Parkway in downtown Cincinnati, (from Walnut Street to just south of Hopple Street,) sits the incomplete, eerie series of tunnels, which have been abandoned since 1928 and are easily among the most notorious abandoned places in Ohio.
What do you think? Are you up for this road trip to abandoned places in Ohio?
If you are, here are two other road trips that will likely interest you: The Ultimate Terrifying Ohio Road Trip and This Haunting Road Trip Through Ohio Ghost Towns.
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