Most of Ashland County is within the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau and the Ohio River Watershed, drained through the Black Fork Mohican River.  A small section in the northern part of the county is in the Till Plains region, draining into Lake Erie (see p. 11 in Ohio Coastal Atlas: Chapter 2 for a detailed watershed map).

Places to Visit

• Hurdle Waterfowl Park is a 66-acre wooded county park that contains a 4.5-acre fishing pond, a 12-acre shallow pond complex, and a 2.5-acre duck pond. 32 odonate species had been observed in the park as of the end of 2023.

• Most of the Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area is within Wayne County, but several hundred acres are publicly accessible on both sides of the Jerome Fork.  This part of the Wildlife Area has not yet been well explored by the oda community (iNaturalist oda sightings).

• Cool Springs Wildlife Conservation Park is located immediately to the south of the Funk Bottoms property, and also adjacent to the Jerome Fork of the Mohican River. This 192 acres property features hilly terrain with areas of grassland, forest, and marsh, there are also a number of natural springs on the property as well as a five-foot waterfall. 3 small spring fed ponds are easily accessible on a path through the wooded area just east of the parking lot.  A hike around the large field to the west of the parking lot leads to a path that crosses between 2 marshy ponds and then leads to the bank of the Jerome Fork.

• Mohican State Park is one of Ohio's most beautiful and interesting state parks.  Comprised of thousand of wooded acres, water features include Clear Fork Gorge, Lyon's Falls, and the Mohican State Scenic River.

• Mohican River Water Trail Guide from ODNR

• Mohican State Scenic River Designation Study. This is a 55 page ODNR analysis of the Clear Fork/Mohican River written in 2006 recommending its inclusion into Ohio’s Scenic Rivers System.  It provides an overview of the human and natural histories of the Mohican River and its tributary creeks, and includes detailed maps.

County Observation Activity

This graph shows the total number of odonata observations for the county in blue, with the average for all Ohio counties in orange. The season is divided into 10 or 11 day segments by Month – basically early-month, mid-month, and late-month.