Medina County Park District’s Killbuck Lakes Now Open

Medina County Park District’s Killbuck Lakes Now Open

MedinaCountyHARRISVILLE TWP. — Opportunities for fishing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and wildlife observation await visitors in Medina County Park District’s newest park, Killbuck Lakes, located at 7996 White Rd. in Harrisville Township Burbank, OH, now open to the public. It’s the first phase of the 408-acre former Baker Sand and Gravel property — acquired through a grant from the Clean Ohio Fund — to be opened by the park district. Its centerpiece is a sprawling 47-acre lake surrounded by a 1.23-mile nature trail.

An October survey found an excellent range of fish in the lake, including catchable bass, bluegill, and crappie. Daily catch limits will be posted to help maintain the health of the population. Smaller numbers of incidental species caught during the sampling include: bowfin, grass pickerel, white sucker, carp, mudminnow and pumpkinseed sunfish.

There is a lake-access area where visitors can pull up to the shore to unload small watercraft. Only non-motorized boats and boats with electric motors are permitted.

According to Tom James, Director, the site was opened now to permit access through the winter months.  “Additional work on the new hiking trail and the entrance road and parking lot will be completed in 2016.  Visitors may encounter some muddy conditions on the trail over the winter,” James said.

The lake, left behind by mining operations, also provides important habitat for waterfowl to eat and rest during migration. American coots, grebe and bufflehead ducks, as well as trumpeter swans have been seen on the water. Even a bald eagle has been spotted circling in the skies above.
While water is the dominant feature of the landscape, Killbuck Lakes offers small but important areas of remnant forest and wetlands. Trees include beech, basswood, big-toothed aspen, and a variety of oaks — shingle, swamp, red, white and burr. Among the shrubs and flowers found in the park are buttonbush, alder, skunk cabbage, and swamp rose. Animals who call the wetlands home include northern leopard frogs, chorus frogs, spring peepers, and the star-nosed mole — a species of concern in Ohio.
The deep-water lakes at Killbuck Lakes are directly connected to a major underground aquifer that is a critical water source for homeowners and farmers in northern Wayne and southern Medina counties. Preservation of the lakes and the land surrounding them enhances quality of life and helps protect this vital aquifer from contamination.

 

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