Tinkers Creek State Nature Preserve

About Tinkers Creek State Nature Preserve

Most of Tinker Creek State Park is a swamp wetland, but in spring herons, ducks, geese and beavers can feed on the water. You can see cattails, buttons, hedges, swamps and oaks lining the banks of this beautiful park. The stream itself is home to a variety of natural wonders, as well as The creek bed itself and its tributaries.

The wetland owes its existence to glaciers that fell on Ohio during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The glacier features moraines and camel-eaters, as well as the remains of a large number of old trees and shrubs.

The moraines formed when the glacier came to a halt in its tracks, leaving behind hills of rubble, sand and gravel. Eskers are sand or gravel deposits that fell through ice tunnels and left long, serpentine hills. Kames are sand / gravel deposits that fall through holes in the ice and leave circular hills, and esker is a kind of kame, a deposit of sand and / or gravel that falls through an ice tunnel and leaves behind a circular hill.

Many beautiful examples of glacier features can be found in this region, and this part of Ohio is known for its many naturally occurring lakes, rivers and streams.

Hugh ice blocks broke off from the glacier, creating a depression filled with melting ice blocks known as the cauldron lake. In the following 10,000 years, the lake was partially filled with sediment and left behind by the unique collection of plants from the swamp. Garlic hedges, alders and oak forests dominate, as do a variety of other plants and animals such as birds, butterflies and birds of prey.

The wetland provides food and shelter for thousands of waterfowl during the spring and autumn migration periods. Beavers and muskrats are frequent inhabitants, and birds of prey such as owls, eagles, falcons, ducks and geese are also frequently spotted, as are other bird species.

The European settlement of Tinker Creek was of great value to the Indians and possessed valuable resources such as gold, silver, copper, gold and other precious metals.

The nearby Cuyahoga River flows into the Tuscarawas, which flow into the Muskingum and Ohio River. The area is located within the Ohio watershed and is one of the highest points in the state. An old Indian portage trail leads from the Cuella River to Tinker Creek and then down the creek to the Tus caribou campgrounds from Tinker Creek, with only 8 miles of overland portage possible. This proved beneficial, as it was possible to travel from one end of Tinker to another in less than 2 hours, for just $8 per mile, by overland.

In the early years of the US Civil War, when the area was overrun by the Tuscarawas, the area became an important trading center for the pioneers of the Native American people.

Cheese production almost began with the arrival of the first settlers and was so successful that it was often called the Cheese Dome. By 1834, cheese from northeast Ohio controlled the southern market, but sewer and rail transportation eventually became more important.

In 1966, the state of Ohio bought the land and Tinker Creek was inaugurated as a national park in May 1973. The park offers recreational opportunities and is built around a 10 hectare artificial lake. In the years before the state acquired the land, the area was a private park known as Colonial Spring Gardens.

In the shade of swampy white oaks, picnic areas provide a picturesque backdrop for a cozy get-together in the shade. The lake, which flows into a spring, offers anglers access to a variety of fish species such as bluefish, perch and trout. Blueperch is also found in two ponds and their pavements, as well as in a small pond for fishing.

Electricity is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and electricity and lodging are available for $5 per person per day or $10 for the whole year.

Tinker Creek State Nature Preserve is located next to a national park and acts like an extensive swamp. Three hiking trails are available for hiking, biking and nature exploration at Tinker Creek National Wildlife Refuge. A 1.5 km long hiking trail known as the Seven Ponds Trail leads through the wetland and a viewing platform has been built to provide visitors with excellent views of waterfowl.

The reserve is open all day, but only accessible on foot and only by car, bicycle or horse.

West Branch State Park, located east of Ravenna, offers camping, fishing, swimming, hunting and boating. Parking is available on Old Mill Road in Aurora and in the town of Aurora, but there is no parking in State Park on the west or east side of the park.