Paint Creek State Park is a public recreation area located in

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

and

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. The state park's central feature is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, Paint Creek Lake, which was created by the damming of Paint Creek. Construction on the dam started in 1967, and Paint Creek State Park was opened in 1972. The underlying geology of the park is limestone, and significant limestone bluffs may be seen, and hiked to, just below the dam. The bluffs and gorges feature Coolwort (''Sullivantia''), an extremely rare wildflower in Ohio. as well as an outstanding colony of Smooth Cliffbrake (''Pellaea glabella'')

ferns A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

. The Highlands Nature Sancuary, a private,

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, is contiguous with the park.

Gallery

File:PCSP4.JPG, Park office File:PCSP2.JPG, Body of water in front of dam File:PCSP3.JPG, Creek bed below dam File:PCSP13.JPG, Boat launch area with intake in the background

References

External links

Paint Creek State Park
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Paint Creek State Park Map
Ohio Department of Natural Resources {{Authority control State parks of Ohio Protected areas of Highland County, Ohio Protected areas of Ross County, Ohio Protected areas established in 1972 1972 establishments in Ohio Nature centers in Ohio