Lake Snowden is a 675 acre education and recreation park in southeast
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 ...
, United States. It is 6 miles southwest of Athens and 1 mile northeast of Albany. Lake Snowden is the largest of four lakes which form the Margaret Creek Conservancy District, covering about 136 acres with a maximum lake depth of 42 feet. The lake provides flood control, water supply, recreational activities, festivals and natural wildlife.
History
Lake Snowden was developed as a part of the PL-566 Margaret Creek Watershed Project with federal funds through the Farmer’s Home Administration and the
Soil Conservation Service
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and ...
to try and control flooding in the area. The dam was completed in July 1970 across a branch of Maragret Creek. Recreation pool was achieved in April 1972. It opened to the public in 1972 and in 1998 Lake Snowden was purchased by
Hocking College from Le-Ax Water District. The college owns and operates a fish hatchery at Lake Snowden that furthers local fish management and aquaculture. Hocking college also assists the Division of Wildlife in installing deep water fish structures, monitoring fish populations, and monitoring water quality.
Recreation
Lake Snowden offers a wide range of outdoor recreation with a grass and sand beach, swimming area and adjacent fields. Horseback riding and boating are popular, with 12.5 miles of horse trails and several types of rentable watercraft. There are 125 camp sites in four areas of the park: The Locust Grove, Big Oak camp, Hickory Camp, and Hilltop Camp. The park also has two shelter houses with seating for 75 each for picnicking.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources orders Lake Snowden to be a "no wake" lake or idle only lake in order to keep the lake's natural beauty and reduce erosion caused by large waves. A boat launching ramp is located on the south side of the lake, near State Route 50.
Pawpaw Festival
The Ohio
Pawpaw Festival
The Pawpaw Festival or Ohio Pawpaw Festival is an annual festival dedicated to the Pawpaw fruit (''Asimina triloba'') that is indigenous to the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States, and cultivated in various places such as Athens Count ...
is held at Lake Snowden around the third weekend of September each year, for the local
pawpaw tree fruits. The pawpaw is North America's largest native tree fruit which grows particularly well in Southern Ohio. Some popular events at the festival include the pawpaw cook off, the best pawpaw competition, and the pawpaw eating contest. Several Ohio breweries provide a unique beer brewed with the fruit's pulp at the beer garden.
Wildlife
The wildlife includes whitetail deer, Canada geese, many duck species, beaver, mink, fox, raccoon, squirrel, rabbit and wild turkey. Birdwatching is popular: migrating waterfowl such as canvasback, common goldeneye or ringneck duck can be seen. Bluebirds, song sparrows and northern harrier are also common species to the area.
Fishing
The primary sport fish species managed are
channel catfish,
bluegill,
redear sunfish,
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 ...
and
saugeye
The sauger (''Sander canadensis'') is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae that resembles its close relative, the walleye. The species is a member of the largest vertebrate order, the Perciformes.Jaeger, Matthew. 2004. Montana's Fi ...
. Saugeye are stocked every year and channel catfish yearlings are stocked every other year. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the lake is one of the finest catfish lakes in southern Ohio with excellent largemouth bass catch rates.
[Ohio Department of Natural Resources]
Notes
External links
Lake Snowden
{{authority control
Parks in Ohio
Snowden
Protected areas of Athens County, Ohio
Snowden