Cowan Lake State Park

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Coordinates: 39°23′20″N 83°54′18″W / 39.38889°N 83.90500°W / 39.38889; -83.90500
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For the Pennsylvania state park, see Cowans Gap State Park.

Cowan Lake State Park
Ohio state park
WebsiteCowan Lake State Park

Cowan Lake State Park is a 1,075-acre (435 ha) public recreation area in Clinton County, Ohio, in the United States. It is operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The state park is open for year-round recreation and is known for a variety of birds that attract birdwatching enthusiasts to the park in southwestern Ohio.[3]

History

What is now Cowan Lake State Park was once home to the

Miami and Shawnee Indians. The Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 resulted in the opening of the land to American settlement. The first settler in the area was William Smalley. Smalley had previously been held captive by the Lenape. His language skills and knowledge of the land left him ideally suited to be among the pioneers in settling what became Clinton County, Ohio.[3]

Cowan Creek, named for pioneer surveyor John Cowan, was dammed in 1950. The creation of Cowan Lake led to the establishment of Cowan Lake State Park in 1968.[3] Its surface area is 695 acres (281 ha).[4]

Geology and ecology

Cowan Lake State Park lies atop limestone that is laden with fossils. The fossilized plants and animals attract attention from both professional and amateur paleontologists. Much of what is now Ohio was covered by massive inland seas and lakes such as Lake Maumee. As the Appalachian Mountains were formed, the limestone that was once the sea floor was pushed to the surface.[3]

Cowan Lake is surrounded by a

mergansers, great blue and green-backed herons, killdeer, eastern bluebirds, catbirds, and many other species of birds.[5] The most common mammals at the park are groundhogs, skunks, raccoons, and opossums.[3]

Other plant life found at the park include

American lotus. The lotus is a water lily that thrives in the shallow waters of Cowan Lake. The leaves of the plant are quite large with yellow flowers.[3]

Recreation

The park offers picnic areas, pavilions, four miles of hiking trails, cottages, campsites, boating, swimming, fishing, and marina. Common game fish in Cowan Lake are muskellunge, crappie, largemouth bass, and bluegill.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Cowan Lake State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Cowan Lake State Park". Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Cowan Lake State Park". Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "Cowan Lake Fishing Map" (PDF). Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  5. ISBN 0-253-20874-2
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cowan Lake State Park.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ohio State Parks
which includes
Cowan Lake State Park.
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