Ohio Eclipse Events: Viewing Destinations Around the Buckeye State

Many communities inside the 124-mile-wide path of totality are planning events before, during and after the April 8 total eclipse. Here are several options. 

Bellefontaine  

This Logan County city's downtown is hosting the weekend-long Moon Glow Over Main Street, featuring food trucks, live music, beer garden and, appropriately, a moon pie eating contest . Totality: three minutes and 38 seconds. 

Bucyrus  

The Crawford County Fairgrounds are accepting reservations for campsites. Totality: three minutes and 47 seconds. 

Cleveland  

The biggest city in the path of totality, Cleveland is expecting a lot of visitors on April 8, which also happens to be the home opener for the Cleveland Guardians. The city also hosts the NCAA Women’s Final Four basketball tournament over the weekend. Totality: three minutes and 50 seconds. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park  

Totality in Ohio’s only national park will be similar to Cleveland’s duration, but what a wonderful setting to view this natural phenomenon. Of course, many others will have the same idea. Totality: three minutes and 20 seconds in Peninsula. 

Dublin  

A close-to-home option, Dublin is offering eclipse hotel packages and a VIP rooftop viewing event for “Dublin in the Dark.” Totality: one minute and 23 seconds. 

Mansfield  

The Richland County Fairgrounds will host OHclipse Mansfield, a ticketed event with 200 campsites, kid activities, food trucks, live music and more. Totality: three minutes and 18 seconds. 

State Parks  

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has highlighted 18 parks in the path of totality that visitors can use: Alum Creek, Indian Lake, East Harbor, Grand Lake St. Marys, Lake Loramie, Maumee Bay, Hueston Woods, Geneva, Delaware, Mt. Gilead, Portage Lakes, Headlands Beach, Sycamore, Wingfoot Lake, Van Buren, Punderson and Mohican.  

These parks, half of which include nature centers, will offer programming such as eclipse science and family night hikes on Monday, April 8, and the weekend prior. The parks will open at 6 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. for day visitors. “We advise people to come early to get their spots, because it will be crowded,” says Lindsay Deering, a spokeswoman with ODNR’s Division of Parks & Watercraft. “We also advise people to plan to stay a little later than the eclipse. Stay after it's over and pack your dinner instead of trying to rush out.” Totality times will vary. 

Wapakoneta  

The hometown of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong happens to fall in the center of the path of totality, where the darkness will begin at 3:09 p.m. The Armstrong Air & Space Museum will be a hub of activity all weekend long. Totality: three minutes and 56 seconds. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the cancellation of the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center eclipse event in Bellefontaine.

This story is from the March 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.