Are you a big fan of the movie Shawshank Redemption?
You will definitely want to check out this self-guided Shawshank driving tour in Mansfield, Ohio!
Mansfield, Ohio has grown in popularity as a tourist destination due to the prison that was the filming location of the movie Shawshank Redemption.
My friend and fellow travel blogger, Tonya Prater is from this area and showed me some of the places to check out if you only have a few hours.
The Self-Guided Shawshank Driving Tour
There are several self-guided maps of the Shawshank Trail located throughout the city in addition to online.
During my visit, we had enough time to stop at a few of them.
There are 14 film locations on the trail. I had a bit of an advantage for my self-guided tour because I had my own personal tour guide.
1. Tour the Ohio State Reformatory
100 Reformatory Rd, Mansfield, OH
Our first site was the Ohio State Reformatory or the fictional “Shawshank State Prison” that was supposed to be in New England in the movie. The tour season for the prison is from April- September.
“The Hollywood Tour” of the prison takes you to Andy’s cell, the warden’s office, the tunnel that Andy crawled through, and replicas of carving on the ceiling.
Unfortunately, the prison wasn’t available for tours during our visit in preparation for the Haunted Mansfield tours starting a few weeks later.
I had to be happy with a view from behind the fence.
2. Olivesburg General Store
4778 OH-545, Ashland, OH
Our next stop was the Olivesburg General Store. It’s not officially part of the trail but it was a cute place to visit that dates back to 1840.
They were also voted best ice cream and sandwich in Mid Ohio in 2015. There is still a tie to the Shawshank Redemption because the original ceiling lights from the movie are at the general store.
During our quick tour, I was grateful that Tonya knew that I would need to get a shot of this, just because.
I got a few more pictures of a few buildings before we stopped at the park.
3. The Bissman Building
193 N Main St, Mansfield, OH
The Bissman Building was used as the front office of the building for the set of the Portland Daily Bugle.
The building was also the site of the Brewer Hotel where the character Brooks hung himself after being paroled.
The Bissman building is also rumored to be haunted.
4. Carrousel Antiques Ltd
118 N Main St, Mansfield, OH
The “Pawn Shop” window at Carrousel Antiques was the window that Red looked through at the compass that would help him find the Oak Tree.
5. Central Park in Downtown Mansfield
29 Park Ave E, Mansfield, OH
Our last downtown stop was Central Park in downtown Mansfield.
This was the film location where Brooks sat down to feed the birds on a bench.
6. Malabar Farm State Park
Our final stop was Malabar Farm State Park. Tonya told me that this park is one of her favorite places to go hiking in the area.
Pugh Cabin at Malabar Farm is the location of the opening scene of Shawshank Redemption.
Make sure that you take a little time to enjoy the beautiful view of the area from the top of Mt. Jeez overlook while you are at Malabar Farm.
Thanks again to Tonya from Travel Inspired Living for showing me a lot of Mansfield, Ohio in a short amount of time!
More Things to Do Near Mansfield, Ohio
Looking for more things to do while you are in the area?
Check out the top things to do near Mohican State Park.
Hi Nedra !
thanks to you. and Tonya for the pix. and information ! We took some of our grandkids to Mansfield , last week end. We kind of wanted to be there, before the 25th anniversary . We enjoyed the tours and information, on the prison. and the movie! I really enjoyed your information from your ton ya and pix ! We do plan on going back. after the 25th settles down … I want to see the trail. as you have posted and brought to my attention … the cabins. brooks. bench .. etc.
again. thank you to you and your friend !!!!
F Y I. .. if you go to the prison wit out Tonya…. the self guided tour is simple,, but. “DO”. get the walkie talkie. information radio. it is with the $5.00. ( 2019). …. I visited with a co-worker. about our time there ….. come t find out he had ben there before …but knew nothing of what I was saying …… updated. information …in. the past 5 years …
byron
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for stopping by. I definitely think it would be worth visiting during the prison tour season. I want to go back to get pics inside. ~Nedra
Hi Nedra,
Look at those awesome blue skies. Fab images and I had no idea this was the spot for the movie. Pretty neat. May be worth a tour when I return home to NJ as it’s about a day trip to this area from my home town.
Ryan