Muskingum River State Park
State Park · Ohio · Ohio Department of Natural Resources
- Camping
- 112 acres
Muskingum River State Park protects a 112-acre corridor along the Muskingum River, a 112-mile river formed by the confluence of the Walhonding and Tuscarawas rivers in Coshocton, Ohio, that flows south through Zanesville to the Ohio River at Marietta. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources describes it as home to the only remaining complete system of hand operated locks in the nation, still operated for recreational boats today. That description sets this park apart from a typical day-use area: it is really a linear parkway of lock sites strung along a working navigation channel, suited to boaters, paddlers, anglers, and anyone interested in the history of river transportation in Ohio.
The park has no water acreage of its own; its 112 acres are all land, scattered as sites along the river rather than a single contiguous tract. Camping is limited and primitive, and access is closely tied to the locks themselves, so visitors planning a river trip or an overnight stay should expect a working-waterway experience rather than a conventional campground park.
Plan your visit
Camping & lodging
2 mapped camping locations
Muskingum River Parkway State Park Campground offers primitive camp sites at Luke Chute Lock #5 and Ellis Lock #11*. All locks also offer primitive camping to boaters. NOTE: Camping closes for the winter Nov 1-Mar 31 eac…
Know before you go
- Address
- 1390 Ellis Dam Rd, Zanesville, OH, 43701
- Phone
- (740) 558-6040
- Official site
- ohiodnr.gov
- Managed by
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Getting there
1390 Ellis Dam Rd, Zanesville, OH, 43701
Directions on Google Maps →On the ground
The Muskingum River Parkway was designated an Ohio State Park in 1958, formalizing protection of a river corridor with deep history. Missionaries settled along its headwaters in 1761, and the first permanent settlement in Ohio was established at Marietta in 1788; General Rufus Putnam, one of the city's founders, recognized the river's potential for moving raw materials to eastern markets and brought in New England shipbuilders. By 1824 steam-powered paddle wheelers had joined flatboat and keelboat traders on the water. Due to the river's locks and dams, the Muskingum is the longest continually navigable river traversing Ohio, and its watershed drains 8,036 square miles, which is an area equal to one-fifth of the state.
Today the park's identity is built around its historic sites: a Lock, Dam/Spillway, Courtesy Boat Dock, and Fishing and Paddling Access points, along with a set of interpretive markers including the Covered Bridges Sign, Morgan's Raid Sign, the "Buckeye Belle" Explosion Sign, The Devola Lock Sign, The Muskingum River Flows North Sign, The Muskingum River Locks Sign, Two River Towns Sign, and Two Riverboat Pilots Sign. Camping is available at Luke Chute Lock #5 and Ellis Lock #11 through the Muskingum River Parkway State Park Campground, though Ellis Lock #11 remains closed and nonfunctioning; all locks also offer primitive camping to boaters. Camping closes each year from November 1 through March 31. The river's floodplains support walnut, elm, cottonwood, and sycamore, with dense paw-paw thickets lining the banks, and the corridor hosts a range of bird life, mammals, and fish.
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Browse all Ohio parks →Sources: State agency, OpenStreetMap contributors, USGS PAD-US · updated 2026-08-12