Places to Visit

Holmes County has relatively little publicly accessible land, virtually all of which is in the Killbuck Valley. 

• Most of the 5,700 acre Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area is located in Wayne County, but the property extends all the way south to Holmesville (3.8 miles).  The best access is just south of the county line, east of SR 83, on CR 1, which provides access to the Killbuck Creek, a small pond, and marshland along both sides of CR 1. Be aware that the area between CR 1 and Force Road (Wayne County) is a wildlife Refuge area and is closed to the public. The ODNR does provide some parking areas, but otherwise, the Holmes section of the Wildlife Area is totally unimproved, with no maintained trails and no facilities.

• The Killbuck Watershed Land Trust, in conjunction with the Arc of Appalachia, owns multiple pieces of Holmes county property starting just north of Killbuck, and extending through the Killbuck Valley to just past the Coshocton County line. Collectively referred to as the Killbuck Swamp Preserve, 36 odonata species have been observed. All of the land north of SR62 is open to public access.  Trails and parking improvement are rudimentary, but improvements are underway.  This land is not well documented on their web site, and a property map application like onX Hunt is recommended

  • Baker Swamp is located just north of the Holmes County Trail.  Park at the trailhead parking lot just east of Killbuck on County 622.  All of the land north of the trail, starting just west of the power substation and east to Township 91 belongs to the trust.  Walk east on the paved trail to TR 91 to access Killbuck Creek (see interactive map above).

  • Turtle Pond is an 80 acre wetland immediately east of the village of Killbuck, between Killbuck Creek, County 621, and SR 520.  A small parking area on 621 just west of the bridge provides access to a 600 yard gravel walking path between the river and marsh. River access is being improved through a kayak launch site, and a boardwalk is planned to run parallel to the county road. A second parking spot at the intersection of Holmes 621 and SR 520 (10114 OH-520, Killbuck, OH 44637) provides access to a wooded hillside and the NW corner of the wetland (see interactive map above). The gas station in Killbuck has restrooms.

  • Restoration of the 194 acre Crane Swamp property, including the rewilding of Laurel Creek, and the 90 acre Bowfin Bottoms on the Holmes/Coshocton line is underway in early 2026, and is not currently open to the public.

• Legacy Point Park, a former landfill that includes multiple ponds, was opened in 2025. 24 species have been observed.

• Mohican State Scenic River Designation Study. This is a 55 page ODNR analysis of the Clear Fork/Mohican River created in 2006 leading up to 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. There is no public access to the Mohican in Holmes County, but a number of small bridges provide some visibility into the Lake Fork Mohican tributary.

• Mohican River Water Trail Guide from ODNR.

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.