Mahoning: Nature, Trails and Culture

Mahoning can be explored through several distinct travel themes: parkland and water, trails for recreation, and industrial history, museums and performances. If you’re looking for a hotel in Mahoning, these highlights can help you plan your stay. Nature experiences range from landscaped gardens to wetlands; cultural offerings include historic buildings as well as contemporary art.

Parks, Water and Trails

The northern part of Mill Creek Park includes Lanterman’s Falls and the Mill Creek Gorge. Waterfalls, steep wooded slopes, sandstone outcrops and grassy meadows shape the landscape. Lake Newport adds 60 acres of open water and 40 acres of wetlands. It is the largest of the three lakes in Mill Creek Park.

For a trail with a clearly defined route, the two-mile Gorge Trail follows Mill Creek on a loop; a boardwalk runs alongside a sandstone wall. The MetroParks Bikeway, by contrast, is a paved, 11-mile trail for walkers, skaters and cyclists. It stretches from Western Reserve Road in Canfield Township to the Mahoning County–Trumbull County line in Austintown Township. Bikeway parking is available at MetroParks Farm, Kirk Road Trailhead and Mahoning Avenue Trailhead.

The Bikeway is also a section of the planned, developing 100-mile Great Ohio Lake to River Greenway. The route is intended to connect Lake Erie to the Ohio River through Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. The Mill Creek MetroParks trail network includes more than 52 miles of paved, gravel and natural-surface trails, including several paved, ADA-accessible trails. Mill Creek Park also offers hiking, biking, boating, fishing, golf, tennis, volleyball, picnicking, cross-country skiing and sledding.

Gardens and Natural Areas

Fellows Riverside Gardens is a free public display garden spanning 12 acres. Visitors can see colorful plantings, roses of every class, seasonal plantings, flowering bulbs and scenic overlooks. Its garden landscape differs from the open water and wetlands at Lake Newport.

Sebring Woods consists primarily of floodplain forest, wooded wetlands, open marsh areas and upland habitats. A survey in May 2010 documented three plant species not previously recorded in Mahoning County. Rare plants and insects, as well as numerous more common wildflowers and songbirds, were also observed. Springfield Forest adds to the nature offerings with gravel trails and natural-surface hiking trails, a fishing pier, a boardwalk, scenic overlooks and a picnic area.

Industrial History and Museums

Hopewell Furnace was built in 1802 and was the first blast furnace in Ohio and the first west of the Allegheny Mountains. Archaeological and metallurgical evidence also suggests that it was the earliest blast furnace in North America to combine bituminous coal and charcoal in ironmaking. Lanterman’s Mill is a historic landmark in Mahoning County; German Lanterman and Samuel Kimberly built the mill in 1845–1846. Pioneer Pavilion is a sandstone building in Mill Creek Park, built in 1821 and originally used as a mill for carding and fulling wool.

Greystone, a 1905 Arts and Crafts-style mansion, is preserved at Arms Family Museum. The changing galleries feature decorative arts, clothing, textiles and fine art. In the Hands-On History Room, visitors can experience the history of the Mahoning Valley in a personal and interactive way. The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor tells the story of steelmaking and the lives of steelworkers through life-size industrial scenes.

Other perspectives can be found at the Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum, with high-quality mineral specimens from around the world, and the Melnick Medical Museum, which documents the history of medicine—including dentistry, nursing and pharmacy—with a special focus on Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. The John J. McDonough Museum of Art presents contemporary art exhibitions, installations, performances and lectures. The Ward Beecher Planetarium offers public programs on weekends and field trip programs for area schools. OH WOW! offers immersive, hands-on STEM activities for young people of all ages.

Stages and Local Culture

The Edward W. Powers Auditorium opened as the Warner Theatre in 1931. The DeYor Performing Arts Center is home to the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. At the Tyler History Center, the Community History Gallery hosts changing exhibitions by local artists, community partners and local nonprofit organizations. The center also hosts a monthly lecture-and-luncheon series and summer programs for families. Wean Park offers more than 20 acres of recreational green space and walking paths, and hosts summer concerts.

The outdoor monument “A Handshake for the Century” commemorates the handshake between George Shuba and Jackie Robinson, considered a significant symbolic moment in civil rights history. Together with the historic mills and exhibitions on industrial history, it adds a public place of remembrance to the museum and performing arts offerings.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: North Lima, Youngstown, Canfield, Poland, Boardman, Austintown, Berlin Center, Pike County.

See the overview of the broader travel region: Ohio.