Marietta: Museums, River Trails and History

Marietta brings together compelling stories from Ohio with trails along the Ohio River and the Muskingum River. At the Campus Martius Museum, you can learn about Ohio’s early settlement and later changes in people’s lives; outdoors, a paved multi-use trail and a challenging network of trails offer different ways to enjoy active days. This lets you choose between history, river trails, and nature for your trip without having to focus on just one theme.

Marietta’s History in Homes and Exhibits

The Campus Martius Museum is located at the site of the original Campus Martius fortification. The museum includes the Rufus Putnam House, the only surviving residence within the fortification. This distinctive combination of a museum and historic home offers a tangible introduction to Marietta’s past. The exhibits cover both Ohio’s early settlement and the later migration of rural residents from Ohio to cities and industrial centers.

Another historic destination is The Castle, a Gothic Revival house museum built in Marietta in 1855. Tours are offered there from April through December. If you would like to include this visit in your trip, you can take that period into account when planning. The house museum offers a different focus from the exhibits at the Campus Martius Museum: here, the emphasis is on a single Gothic Revival house, while the museum covers Ohio’s early settlement and later migration.

Mound Cemetery also offers a window into Marietta’s history. Tours there focus on a 2,000-year-old Adena mound and Marietta citizens who changed the course of the nation. The cemetery is also home to Conus Mound, a 30-foot-tall ceremonial structure. Together with the museum exhibits, these sites make for a trip where you can discover a range of historic places and stories.

River Trails, Challenging Trails, and Nature

The River Trail is a 3.5-mile paved multi-use trail on mostly flat terrain. It is fully accessible and winds around Marietta’s historic district along the Ohio River and the Muskingum River. The trail runs from the Lafayette Shopping Center to Indian Acres Park and the Marietta Aquatic Center. Its length, surface, and terrain offer practical guidance when choosing between a trip along a mostly flat trail and other activities in Marietta.

The Marietta Trail Network offers a different challenge: the network is more than 18 miles long and passes through challenging terrain. It is intended for hiking and mountain biking and is located near Marietta High School. If you’re primarily interested in hiking or mountain biking on challenging terrain, you can include this network in your itinerary. The difference from the River Trail is clear: the River Trail is described as a paved trail with mostly flat terrain, while this is a long network of trails with challenging terrain.

For a connection with nature, the Kroger Wetlands Trail in Marietta leads to a nature preserve. This adds a destination focused on a protected area, as well as more challenging trails, to the range of river trails. You can plan your outings based on whether you’d prefer to use a paved multi-use trail, explore a longer trail network, or take a path to a nature preserve.

Tradition on the Ohio River

The Ohio River Sternwheel Festival is a 49-year tradition on the Ohio River Levee in Marietta. It recalls a time when sternwheel boats transported goods along the Ohio River. The river shapes not only the scenery along the trails but also a local tradition with a historic theme. As a travel destination, the festival offers another glimpse into Marietta’s history on the Ohio River.

For the broader travel overview: Washington.