Portage Lakes Wetland State Natural Area
Summit County, Ohio
Our take written by Nature Awed
Portage Lakes Wetland in Summit County is a tall shrub sphagnum bog dominated by speckled alder and arrowwood, with swamp birch, tamarack, alder-leaved buckthorn and smooth gooseberry.
ODNR is plain about the conditions: there is no trail system, the basin is too wet to enter without ankle-high boots, and the thick shrubs are hard to walk through.
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
Portage Lakes Wetland is primarily a tall shrub sphagnum bog community dominated by speckled alder and arrowwood.
This wet basin is too wet to enter without ankle-high boots and it is difficult to walk through the thick shrubs. Some of the rare species found growing here include swamp birch, tamarack, alder-leaved buckthorn and smooth gooseberry.
Visiting
No trail system is present.
In ODNR's preserve guide
This preserve has no row in ODNR's printed guide. The guide says: Preserves not listed are either unimproved, or require a written permit to visit.
(ODNR: Ohio State Nature Preserves & Natural Areas Guide (PDF)).
Access permit
Portage Lakes Wetland State Natural Area 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage Lakes Wetland Non-Dedicated Natural Area | SUMMIT | Non-Dedicated Natural Area | 9.11 | Division of Natural Areas and Preserves |
| Mapped acres | 9.11 (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 | 40.9980, -81.5346 (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: Portage Lakes Wetland State Natural Area 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.
- Karlo Fen Dedicated Natural Area · Summit County · about 4.0 miles · permit
- Myersville Fen State Nature Preserve · Summit County · about 6.0 miles · permit
- Flatiron Bog State Nature Preserve · Portage County · about 9.3 miles · permit
- Jackson Bog State Nature Preserve · Stark County · about 9.9 miles
- Cooperrider Kent Bog State Nature Preserve · Portage County · about 13 miles