Jackson Bog State Nature Preserve

Nearly 60 acres, Jackson Bog State Nature Preserve is located in northern Stark County. It is comprised of a series of high-quality wetland meadows scattered along a small stream valley. Dedicated in 1980 as a state nature preserve, Jackson Bog is owned by Jackson Township Board of Education and the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.

The uniqueness of Jackson Bog is a result of natural events that occurred during the Ice Age. More than a million years ago, at least four major ice sheets advanced southward across modern day Ohio. The most recent advance, referred to as the Wisconsinan, bulldozed its way south from eastern Canada and lumbered across much of North America between 18,000-50,000 years ago. The glacier plucked and transported millions of tons of rock and debris during its advance. It completely altered the local landscape, creating the conditions that have allowed the rare plant communities in the preserve to survive despite vast climatic changes over the past 10,000 years.

Plants native to the circumpolar and boreal regions far north of Ohio were able to survive and reproduce beyond the slowly advancing glacier as it continued its southward creep. The southernmost extent of the glacier was just south of the preserve in central Stark County. Jackson Bog lies in a narrow belt between what were two lobes of advancing ice, the Killbuck lobe to the west and the Grand River lobe to the east. The result was a tremendous outwash areas with vast amounts of poorly sorted and varied glacial materials deposited in deep piles over the original bedrock landscape. As the climate gradually warmed and the glacier retreated northward, a new landscape emerged, one of low hills, hummocks and kettle-hole lakes, which were created as materials continued to be washed out of the melting ice. While the ice wasted away from the region, the plants re-colonized the cold muddy terrain. Despite the passage of thousands of years, some isolated sites still possess the character of that early post-glacial setting. Jackson Bog is a postcard from the Ice Age. It is a place where time has seemingly stood still.

Jackson Bog Stark 7984 Fulton Dr NW Massillon, 44646 1.3~ Caution - poison sumac

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.