North Shore Alvar State Nature Preserve
Erie County, Ohio · 0.3 trail miles in ODNR's guide
Our take written by Nature Awed
North Shore Alvar on Kelleys Island is a flat exposure of nearly barren limestone or dolomite, opened by glaciers and kept bare by wind, waves and ice.
ODNR names northern bog violet, balsam squaw-weed, Kalm's lobelia and Pringle's aster among the few plants adapted to it, and notes shallow glacial striations in the rock. It lies within Kelleys Island State Park, and the guide gives 0.3 miles of trail.
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
The North Shore Alvar on Kelleys Island is the finest of the few such sites in Ohio. Alvars are horizontal exposures of nearly barren limestone or dolomite which were exposed by glaciers and are kept open by a variety of environmental factors. The name "alvar" is derived from a Swedish word for similar landforms near the Baltic Sea. On Kelleys Island, the alvar is scoured by wind, waves, and ice. Only a few specially adapted plant species can survive in this hostile terrain.
Some of these unusual species on Kelleys Island are northern bog violet, balsam squaw-weed, Kalm's lobelia, and Pringle's aster. The alvar also features shallow glacial striations. Other Ohio alvars are found on the Marblehead Peninsula. Most of these have been disturbed or destroyed by quarrying and other human activities. Extensive alvars are found only in Michigan, New York, and Ontario, Canada.
The preserve is located within Kelleys Island State Park near Glacial Grooves State Memoria l.
In ODNR's preserve guide
| Address | Division St, Kelleys Island, 43438 (marked *: No physical address, see website for details.) |
|---|---|
| Trails (miles) | 0.3 |
| Visitor information | Located within Kelleys Island State Park |
North Shore Alvar Erie *Division St Kelleys Island, 43438 0.3 Located within Kelleys Island State Park
Access permit
North Shore Alvar 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Shore Alvar State Nature Preserve | ERIE | Dedicated Nature Preserve | 4.72 | Division of Natural Areas and Preserves |
| Mapped acres | 4.72 (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 | 41.6201, -82.7109 (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: North Shore Alvar 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.
- North Pond State Nature Preserve · Erie County · about 0.8 miles
- Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve · Ottawa County · about 6.5 miles
- Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve · Erie County · about 15 miles
- Erie Sand Barrens State Nature Preserve · Erie County · about 18 miles
- Dupont Marsh State Nature Preserve · Erie County · about 19 miles