Zanesville — the Y-Bridge, the National Road & America's Pottery Capital

An hour east of Columbus on the old National Road, Zanesville is a Muskingum River mill town that once supplied the nation with art pottery and still wears its industrial heritage with pride. This one-day loop opens at the Y-Bridge, the improbable three-legged span across the confluence of the Muskingum and Licking rivers that Amelia Earhart called the most recognizable landmark in America from the air. From there the day traces the story of the great highway west at the National Road & Zane Grey Museum, honors the town's clay dynasty — Roseville, Weller, and the surviving Seven Ranges tradition — and browses the potteries and antique row that still draw collectors from across the country. It is a compact, deeply Ohioan day: rivers, roads, clay, and the writer of the American West who was born on their banks.