Mohican State Park is a public recreation area located on the south shore of

Pleasant Hill Lake Pleasant Hill Lake is a 783-acre man made lake located near Perrysville and between Ashland and Richland counties in Ohio. Completed in 1936, Pleasant Hill Dam was built on the Clear Fork of the Mohican River The Mohican River is a principal ...

, south of Loudonville in Ashland 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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

is located along Ohio SR 3 and Ohio SR 97 and is surrounded by the

Mohican-Memorial State Forest Mohican-Memorial State Forest is a state forest in Ashland County, Ohio, United States. Mohican-Memorial State Forest is used for forest research, demonstrations of good forest management, tree seed for nurseries, recreation, and protection of s ...

. The Clear Fork of the Mohican River flows through the park carving a narrow gorge and joins the Black Fork about a half-mile east of the park to form the

Mohican River The Mohican River is a principal tributary of the Walhonding River, about long, in north-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Walhonding, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area o ...

. The park is open for year-round recreation including camping, hiking, boating, mountain biking, fishing, and picnicking.Cabins at Mohican State Park in Ohio
USA Today, John Smith

History

Mohican State Park was originally called Clear Fork State Park when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was created in 1949 and the park was created from Ohio Division of Forestry lands. In 1966, the name of the park was changed to Mohican to alleviate confusion between

Clear Fork Reservoir The Clear Fork Reservoir is a reservoir (as a man-made lake) on the Clear Fork river in the area of Richland County and Morrow County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It was designed and built in 1949 to be the main source of drinking water for the c ...

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The city ...

and the state park.

Activities

Hiking

There are of hiking trails in Mohican State Park, plus an additional of hiking trails in the adjacent State Forest. The designated mountain bike trails and

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

s are also available for the hiker to use.

Mountain biking

An mountain bike trail that passes through Mohican State Park and the state forest was opened to the public in 2005. The trail was created through a partnership between the Mohican/Malabar Bike Club and ODNR. Since then, work has continued to expand the mountain bike trail to a total of . The trail is open to mountain bike riders and hikers. Each June the park is home to the

Mohican MTB 100 The Mohican MTB 100 is an Marathon Mountain Bike Races, ultra-endurance 100 mile (161 km) mountain bike race held annually in early June in North Central Ohio. The course contains over 11,000 feet of climbing on single-track, double-track and ...

race.

Naturalist programs

From Memorial Day Weekend through the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, the park offers daily naturalist activities for its camping and cottage visitors as well as the general public. Activities include movies at the Class A Campground amphitheater on weekends, nature hikes, family games, and grist mill tours. In addition, the Junior Naturalist program is offered for kids from ages 7 through 14. A restored cabin served as the park Nature Center and was located in the Class A Campground. It was moved to the space where the game room used to reside.

Camping

There are three separate camping areas at Mohican State Park: the Class A Campground, the Class B Campground, and the Group Camp Area. There is also the Mohican Resort and Conference Center, built in 1974 and operated by

Xanterra Parks and Resorts Xanterra Travel Collection (formerly Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Amfac Resorts and Amfac Parks & Resorts) is a privately owned American park and resort management company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, controlled by entertainment magnate P ...

References

External links

Mohican State Park
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Mohican State Park Map
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Mohican State Park Lodge and Conference Center
Xanterra Parks & Resorts {{authority control Protected areas of Ashland County, Ohio State parks of Ohio Protected areas established in 1949 1949 establishments in Ohio