Adams Lake State Park is a public recreation area that surrounds Adams Lake on the far northern edge of the village of West Union, Adams County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, in the United States. The park's are equally divided between land and water and include a rare dry-prairie remnant, Adams Lake Prairie State Nature Preserve. The park offers fishing, boating, picnicking, and hiking.

History

Adams Lake was created to supply

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

to the village of West Union, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Adams County. When ownership of the lake and its surrounding land was transferred to the state of Ohio in 1950, Adams Lake State Park was founded.

Ecology

The park is home to one of the last pockets of

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

habitat in Ohio. Native American and naturally caused fires, grazing by megafauna, and periodic severe droughts may have played a role in maintaining this landscape. Plants found in this disjunct area of prairie include purple coneflower,

prairie dock Prairie dock is a common name for several plants: *'' Silphium perfoliatum'' *''Silphium terebinthinaceum ''Silphium terebinthinaceum'' is a member of the Asteraceae, a family that includes sunflowers, and is commonly referred to as prairie doc ...

, and

little bluestem ''Schizachyrium scoparium'', commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a species of North American prairie grass native to most of the contiguous United States (except California, Nevada, and Oregon) as well as a small area north of t ...

flowers. The Adams Lake prairie is a dry, sparsely vegetated area. The only trees in the prairie opening are sporadically occurring red cedar,

post oak ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to r ...

, and others which can survive the extreme soil conditions. Rare plants in the prairie include cylindrical blazing star, scaly blazing star, rattlesnake-master and blackjack oak.

Activities and amenities

The lake offers swimming, boating (electric motors), and boat launch and provides a habitat for bluegill, channel catfish, carp, bullhead, and

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

. Park amenities include picnicking areas, walking path, and trails through the nature preserve.

References

External links

Adams Lake State Park
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Adams Lake State Park Map
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Adams Lake Prairie State Nature Preserve
Ohio Department of Natural Resources {{authority control State parks of Ohio Protected areas of Adams County, Ohio Protected areas established in 1950 1950 establishments in Ohio Bodies of water of Adams County, Ohio Lakes of Ohio