The historic Idanre Hills are another marvelous Tourist attractions in the State. Idanre Town, the location of these hills is about 24 kilometres southwest of Akure the state capital. The town is divided into viz, the new settlement which is at the foot of the hills and Oke- Idanre the old settlements on the top of the hills. There is the hill top sanctuary of Idanre, which consists of about 640 steps. These had necessitated, in addition, the construction of five resting posts along the steps to the top. At the top of the hill, there is an intriguing footprint, which is widely believed to enlarge or contract to accommodate every foot. It is as well believed that anybody whose foot does not exactly fit into the footprint is considered to be a witch or a wizard. The cultural relics in term of gods, goddesses and traditional arts can still be seen in addition to the old palace built around the 17th century. The panoramic view of the new Idanre never fails to fascinate first time visitors.
Ebomi Lake is located at Ipesi in Akoko South West Local Government. The length of the lake is about 1.6km and 40 meters wide. This lake is referred to as the bottomless lake. It is between Edo and Ondo States. The people of Ipesi, according to oral history, met Ebomi Lake at Ipesi. The word Ebomi is an adulteration of a Yoruba word ABAMI which literarily means mysterious. The lake, according to the villagers, has spiritual and guiding power for protecting the villagers during wars. The lake has unseen soldiers (according to oral history) that fight wars for Ipesi people. The lake's deities give the villagers different gifts like fish, children and fowls. Economically, the lake is very viable especially to farmers in the village. It also encourages irrigation in the area. Apart from this the villagers fish on the lake. To encourage them however, the Akoko South West Local Government bought a flying boat on the lake. There is a special priest for the lake charge with the responsibility of appeasing it in time of trouble and for general protection of the town.
Oyemekun Rocks is located in Fanibi Layout, Isikan, Akure. The rocks were first discovered in the year 1989 and has etchings of various objects in the sea, land and air,the map of the world inclusive, but it was not until 1996 that any of the etchings on the rocks were noticed. The first discovery was that of a woman chasing a crocodile. Some of the other discoveries made on the rocks include the Olympic torch of unity, a leopard chasing a snake, a dinosaur, a cat, a lion, a peacock, an ostrich, a duck, a pig, an alligator, a dove, an owl, and a frog. There are also maps of U.S.A., Nigeria, West Africa, Africa, former USSR, Australia, Ekiti State, Ondo State, South America and Ghana. The materials with which these etchings are made are different from the texture of the rocks themselves. The rocks are light black/dark grey while the etched objects come out in a mixture of white and grey which distinguishes the objects from the rocks and removes room for any doubt.
This is located twenty-four kilometers of Akure, the state capital and lies between Igbara-Oke and Ilara-Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area. It is the cradle of the West Africa's oldest pre-historic man. Some kilometers north of Isharun lies the ancient cave of ashes which was acclaimed as the original home of the people of Isharun, and from where the skeleton of the oldest pre-historic man was excavated by Professor Thurstan Shaw, an archeologist, following a directive from the Nigerian Antiquities Commission. At the end of the classification and analysis of the skeleton of the man excavated from the Cave of Ashes, the skeleton's age was placed at 9991 years old, using a radiometric age-dating process, having lived at about 8,000BC. Also found at the Cave of Ashes were fragments of pots and grinding stone dated back to 1,000 BC. Parts of the skeleton of the man of Cave of Ashes are kept at the University of Ibadan and Owo Museum of Antiquities while a cast of the skull is in the British Museum of Natural History in South Kensington, United Kingdom. The man of the Cave of Ashes confirmed the theory that man lived in West Africa before the Neolithic period i.e before man started to settle in village groups. Cave of Ashes has had an invaluable impact on the growth of West African historiography and it is indeed a tourist potential in Ondo State in particular and Nigeria in general.
