Harrison Lake State Park

On the ground

The lake and its shoreline are the organizing feature of the park. Boats of any type are permitted on the 105-acre lake, though motors must run at no-wake speed, and a single ADA-compliant launch ramp with two ADA-friendly courtesy docks provides access. A 150-foot swimming beach sits along the shore, with a dog swim area west of the beach and another near the campground for visitors bringing pets. Anglers can take largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill, bullhead catfish, northern pike, and carp from the lake under Ohio fishing regulations. Great blue herons and common egrets can be sighted at the lake's shallow western end.

That wetland history runs deep: the park's grounds sit on land that was once part of the Great Black Swamp, a wetland the Ohio Department of Natural Resources notes was 120 miles long and 30 to 40 miles wide, formed as Lake Erie receded from its once much larger extent. That swamp long blocked western settlement, and the Ottawa Indians settled only on the well-drained lands beside the Maumee River and its tributaries. Little of the original swamp remains, but the park still holds wetland-associated features, and the agency notes the area was once a haven for the swamp rattlesnake, or massasauga; meadows and woodlands today support songbirds such as the vesper sparrow, common yellowthroat, and brown thrasher. On land, about 3.5 miles of hiking trail trace the lakeshore and woods, a free 9-hole disc golf course sits near the North Shelterhouse, and the park's named historic features include a Dam/Spillway.