Mohican State Park

Paddling guide

sbradford — Tue, 27 May 2025 15:18:43 +0000

Paddling guide

June 1, 2025

When we were young boys, my brother and I sometimes paddled a battered aluminum canoe on the Mohican River in north-central Ohio. We’d launch from a riverside campground at Mohican State Park, where my family often parked our camper, to spend a leisurely afternoon chasing herons and kingfishers downstream and dodging other canoeists on the popular waterway.

A dozen river miles later, we’d pull out the boat in a Knox County hamlet called Greer. Looking back, I suppose our parents were confident we’d be safe because the Mohican was (and is) a placid stream heavily used by canoe rental liveries. But to be honest, back then we had no idea what to expect on that stretch, and information for paddlers was hard to find.

Today, intrepid boaters and their canoes, kayaks, and, increasingly, stand-up paddleboards have an outstanding resource to help them navigate some of the most popular paddling waters in Ohio. Fourteen streams and three sections of Lake Erie shoreline are now designated “State Water Trails” by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

One of those streams is the Mohican, and today’s paddlers can view the Mohican River Water Trail at the ODNR website or download a brochure to find information about access points (including Greer Landing), picnic areas, and points of interest, as well as low-head dams and other hazards along the way.

A combination of safety manual, recreational guide, and marketing campaign, ODNR’s water trail program is designed to “promote the awareness of public paddling access while increasing safety by partnering with local communities to develop designated water trails on Ohio’s waterways.”

The program was launched in June 2005, when the Kokosing River Water Trail became the first designated water trail. The program surpassed the 1,000-mile mark in June 2022, when a 36-mile stretch of the Portage River became the 17th official Ohio water trail.

Although the program is coordinated by ODNR, “it’s not an ODNR-driven effort,” says Mark Allen, statewide trails coordinator for the state agency. The process of developing a water trail includes significant involvement from the local communities along the waterway.

“It’s more of a grassroots effort, where we have to capture that buy-in from local leaders, land managers, and community members,” Allen says. “We want to make sure there is buy-in from all the stakeholders along the trail, that they are in support of providing this as an asset for their community.”

ODNR guides the talks between local communities; user groups; and state, federal, and local park districts, often crossing several county boundaries. Once the groups reach an agreed-upon route, ODNR helps pay for brochures, maps, and signs. Additional promotion is up to the local communities, and some do more than others. Communities along the Tuscarawas River, for example, created an online “story map” that traces the route of the water trail with photographs and GIS maps.

Drawing attention to the scenic and recreational values of a river does seem to encourage local enjoyment of the resource. An analysis of canoe and kayak registrations by Ohio State University professor Ozeas Costa Jr. and Bob Gable of ODNR’s Scenic Rivers program found a strong correlation between the state’s scenic rivers and the percentage of nearby residents with canoe and kayak registrations.

Ohio water trails offer a surprising variety of scenery, challenges, and hazards, Allen says: Paddlers navigate a series of locks along the Muskingum River (see related story here) or a Class V series of rapids on the Cuyahoga River (for expert paddlers only); the Mad River has excellent trout fishing; and the Lake Erie Islands trails offer spectacular scenery in the lake’s most popular tourist area (but watch out for power boaters!).

The trail maps provided by the water trail program are especially valuable for paddlers, says Mary Spikowski, a founding member of Columbus Paddling Club. The club’s 150-plus paid members schedule trips throughout the country, including some each year in Ohio. A map of in-stream hazards such as low-head dams, bridge abutments, and rapids can be lifesaving, she says. And identifying access points prevents conflicts with landowners.

“It’s very helpful to know which side of the river we are allowed to put in and where we can park. We want to stay legal, but sometimes it is hard to know.”

Click here to view maps or download brochures for Ohio’s designated state water trails.

Mohican country

sbradford — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 16:42:31 +0000

Mohican country

March 1, 2023

W.H. Chip Gross

Woods, Waters & Wildlife

In 1896, a baby was born in Mansfield — a boy who would one day grow up to travel the world, become a writer, and win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1927, at just 30 years of age. He would then return to his hometown, purchase three adjacent rundown farms, and transform them into the conservation showplace called Malabar Farm, today known as Malabar Farm State Park. His name was Louis Bromfield.

Fifty-five years later, another baby boy was born in Mansfield who also grew up to be a writer. This one didn’t travel the world, nor did he win the Pulitzer Prize — at least not yet. But what he would do, like Bromfield, is fall in love with the beauty of the natural world, and particularly that area surrounding Malabar. OK, I’m sure you guessed: That second boy is me.

In his 1945 book titled Pleasant Valley, Bromfield wrote of the area:

It is a pleasant land all about you, valleys where the bottom land is rich, bordered by hills covered with wild and luxuriant forest, the whole filigreed with the silver of the streams called Switzer’s Run, Possum Run, and the Clear Fork; and far down lies the blue shield of Pleasant Hill Lake bordered by the deep red of sandstone bluffs and the blue black of hemlock trees.

Today, the area is labeled Mohican country by the tourism folks. It still appears much as it did during Bromfield’s time, and it’s my favorite part of the Buckeye State. It’s a fantastic place for a weekend getaway, relatively easy to access in southeast Richland County. Here are my suggestions for where to stay, where to dine, and what to do to experience a sense of why Bromfield so loved Malabar:

Where to stay: Other than a campground and single cabin — the Maple Syrup Cabin — Malabar Farm State Park has no overnight lodging facilities, so staying at nearby Mohican State Park is convenient. Mohican offers rooms and a restaurant at the lodge overlooking Pleasant Hill Lake, or cabins and campgrounds beside the Clear Fork of the Mohican River, a State Scenic River.

What to see: At Malabar, be sure to take the Big House tour to see Bromfield’s writing office, containing the custom-made desk he seldom used. He complained that the desk was too high for him, so instead he wrote at a small, folding card table. Bromfield was well connected with Hollywood, and you’ll hear the story of film legends Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall marrying at the farm and spending their honeymoon in the second-floor bedroom.

What to eat: Plan to have lunch or supper at Malabar Farm Restaurant just down the road from the entrance to the park. My wife and I consider it our favorite Ohio eatery. Gourmet meals are served on white tablecloths, but the atmosphere is casual, so blue jeans and hiking boots are more than acceptable. And no trip to Malabar is complete without making the short drive to the summit of Mount Jeez for a sweeping, panoramic view of the farm and Pleasant Valley. The scene is particularly stunning during the first blush of spring or the peak of autumn color.

What to do: Once back at Mohican, if you’d like to stretch your legs and do some hiking, park your vehicle at the covered bridge and take either of the two trails that parallel the Clear Fork River through the Clear Fork Gorge. Heavily forested, the sandstone gorge measures 1,000 feet across by 300 feet deep, and is recognized by the National Park Service as a Registered National Natural Landmark. Heading northwest, both trails eventually lead to the top of Pleasant Hill Lake Dam, providing spectacular views of the lake and spillway.

During summer, watersports are available on the lake, and several canoe liveries along the Black Fork of the Mohican River are located within a mile of Mohican’s main entrance. Think about scheduling your visit to coincide with Mohican Wildlife Weekend, held annually in late April, which offers many free outdoor activities at a number of area venues.

Oh, and one last thing. If you happen to have any influence with anyone serving on this year’s Pulitzer Prize committee, would you mind putting in a good word for me? It seems I’m rapidly running out of time.