Cranberry Bog Boardwalk

Buckeye Lake State Park, Ohio

Cranberry Island, located in Buckeye Lake, originally surfaced as a bog mat in 1830. Since then it has been dramatically decreasing in size, dwindling from 50 acres down to its current 11 acres. The Cranberry Bog Mat is the only survivor from the reservoir creation that impounded the Big Swamp in 1830. Everything was destroyed except for the youngest, and therefore most buoyant, sections of the bog mat. Most of the swamp forest disappeared beneath the waters, all except the 50 acre upper segment along the north shore that stretched and expanded like a big sponge. This portion rose 6 feet with the new water level. No longer did the floating bog mat surround the glacial lake, now the lake surrounded the bog, making Cranberry Bog the only known occurrence of its kind in the world, and you can hike the boardwalk that traverses this special island nature preserve. Access to the preserve is restricted to small, supervised groups or by special permit from www.ohiodnr.com/dnap. The established boardwalk trail now takes less than 15 minutes to walk, but along your short hike you will be treated to views of not only an amazing and rare eco-system, but to some beautiful and rare plants as well. Among the plants you will see are rare orchids and carnivorous plants that remain as living tributes to the ice age such as the northern pitcher plant, grass-pink (calopogon) orchids, rose pogonia orchids, sphagnum moss, sundew plants, cinnamon ferns, ground nut, winter holly, arctic cotton grass, and of course cranberries.