Catawba Island, a small island off the Marblehead Peninsula northeast of the city of Port Clinton, in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Picture taken from a Diamond Eclipse light airplane at an altitude of 1,550 feet MSL and a bearing of approximately 80º.
Catawba Island, a small island off the Marblehead Peninsula northeast of the city of Port Clinton, in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Picture taken from a Diamond Eclipse light airplane at an altitude of 1,550 feet MSL and a bearing of approximately 80º. Nyttend · Public domain

Catawba Island State Park

State Park · Ohio · Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Catawba Island State Park is a 10-acre day use park in Port Clinton, Ohio, on Lake Erie. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources manages the park primarily as a boating access point rather than a destination with trails or campgrounds. All 10 acres are land, with no water acreage counted within the park boundary itself.

The park is best suited to boaters, anglers, and picnickers heading out onto Lake Erie rather than to hikers looking for a trail network. It functions as a launch point and a quiet shoreline stop rather than a place to spend a full day exploring on foot.

Plan your visit

Know before you go

Address
4049 E Moore's Dock Road, Port Clinton, OH, 43452
Phone
(419) 734-4424
Official site
ohiodnr.gov
Managed by
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Hours
6am to 11pm daily. Visitors are permitted to actively engage in legitimate recreational activities outside these hours. If you have questions, call the park office.

Getting there

4049 E Moore's Dock Road, Port Clinton, OH, 43452

Directions on Google Maps →

On the ground

Four launch ramps provide access to Lake Erie. Canoes and kayaks can launch from a cobblestone beach near the shelter, and this carry-in access is a recognized point on the Lake Erie Water Trail. A fishing pier extends into the lake, where yellow perch, smallmouth bass, white bass, channel catfish and walleye are the dominant species, and anglers 16 and older need a valid Ohio fishing license. Two picnic areas with modern restrooms serve day visitors, and the picnic shelter can be reserved through reserveohio.com or by calling (866) 644-6727. Under the right conditions, visitors can also ice skate and ice fish on the lake in winter.

Catawba Island is part of the Lake Erie Islands group, formed when glaciers gouged and scoured the bedrock during the glacial period, leaving depressions that filled with meltwater to form the Great Lakes. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, which can produce violent storms with high waves, and its western basin averages 25 to 30 feet deep. The Lake Erie Island region was occupied at different times by the Ottawa and Huron (Wyandot) peoples, whose presence is recorded in pictographic carvings on Inscription Rock on Kelleys Island. Oliver Hazard Perry's naval victory near Put-In-Bay, off South Bass Island, during the War of 1812 secured American control of Lake Erie.

Practical notes

Park hours run from 6am to 11pm daily, though visitors engaged in legitimate recreational activities may remain later. The park office can be reached at (419) 734-4424.

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Sources: State agency, Wikimedia Commons / editorial, OpenStreetMap contributors, USGS PAD-US, Google Places · updated 2026-08-23