Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve
Portage County, Ohio · 1 trail miles in ODNR's guide
Our take written by Nature Awed
Herrick Fen in Portage County is a tamarack and cinquefoil-sedge fen fed by cold, calcium and magnesium rich springs rising through a buried pre-glacial valley.
ODNR says the tamarack fen holds a reproducing tamarack population and the sedge fen an extensive stand of bayberry, a state-endangered plant, among over 20 state-listed plants. The Nature Conservancy owns and manages it, and the guide says to contact the Conservancy for access details.
Our plain-language reading of the ODNR text quoted on this page. It adds no facts of its own.
Verify current visiting hours and access restrictions with ODNR's page for this preserve and ODNR's permit page before relying on this summary.
What ODNR says about it
Herrick Fen is important for its tamarack and cinquefoil-sedge fen communities. The tamarack fen supports one of the few reproducing populations of tamarack in Ohio, the only native conifer in Ohio which sheds its needles each year. The cinquefoil-sedge fen contains an extensive population of bayberry, a state-endangered plant found in only three locations in Ohio. The preserve lies within the Tinker's Creek watershed in the glaciated Allegheny Plateau region of northeastern Ohio.
The site lies on a buried pre-glacial valley filled with silt and gravel that allows for the rise of cold, calcium and magnesium rich springs which promote the presence of the fen communities here. A beech-maple forest borders the wetland on the northeast side and mixed hardwood forest occurs on the southern edge. The preserve provides habitat for more than 20 state-listed plants including yellow sedge, crinkled hairgrass, water avens, bunchflower, autumn willow and green cotton-grass.
The preserve is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy.
Trails
1 mile of hiking trails
In ODNR's preserve guide
| Address | 8260 Seasons Rd, Streetsboro, 44241 |
|---|---|
| Trails (miles) | 1 |
| Visitor information | Contact The Nature Conservancy for access details • nature.org/ohio |
Herrick Fen Portage 8260 Seasons Rd Streetsboro, 44241 1 Contact The Nature Conservancy for access details • nature.org/ohio
Access permit
Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve is not on ODNR's list of preserves that require an access permit, and its ODNR page as quoted here doesn't call for one. ODNR also says: An access permit is required to leave trails within a state nature preserve.
(ODNR: State Nature Preserves Access Permit).
The land on ODNR's map
| LANDS_NAME | COUNTY | PROP_TYPE | SUM_CALC_ACRES | MANAGING_AGENCY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve | PORTAGE | Dedicated Nature Preserve | 139.95 | The Nature Conservancy |
| Mapped acres | 139.95 (our sum of the parcels ODNR's GIS layer maps under this name) |
|---|---|
| Access permit | No whole-preserve permit requirement identified in the sources we check; named-area or activity permits may still apply |
| Centre of mapped land | 41.2108, -81.3665 (our calculation; not an entrance or parking lot) |
Statewide rules
Ohio Administrative Code chapter 1501:17 sets rules for nature preserves and natural areas under ODNR's supervision or its designated custodian, on pets, drones, picnics, collecting and more. Can I…? quotes them rule by rule, with their exceptions.
Pets are prohibited at all state nature preserves, except Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve where leashed pets are only allowed on the multipurpose paved trail.
Check before you go. Verify current hours, access and trail information on ODNR: Herrick Fen State Nature Preserve and ODNR: State Nature Preserves Access Permit; our checker last found the quoted words there on October 14.
Nearest other preserves
Straight-line miles between the centres of mapped land (our calculation), not driving distance.
- Gott Fen State Nature Preserve · Portage County · about 1.8 miles · permit
- Beck Fen State Nature Preserve · Portage County · about 2.4 miles · permit
- Tinkers Creek State Nature Preserve · Summit and Portage counties · about 4.9 miles
- Cooperrider Kent Bog State Nature Preserve · Portage County · about 5.9 miles
- Aurora Sanctuary State Nature Preserve · Portage County · about 7.4 miles