With its recent designation, Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve has become Ohio’s 147th state nature preserve.

“It remains important to preserve Ohio’s many wonderful natural resources for citizens of today and of the future,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said. “Dedicating Little Beaver Creek as a state nature preserve will protect one of Ohio’s scenic rivers as well as critical habitat for rare plant species.”

Smith said ODNR has been working on the purchases for some time, just talking to landowners to get the two purchases designated as a state nature preserve. The one parcel is a 1 mile stretch of land with 29 acres along the Little Beaver Creek River which is accessible only by Grimms Bridge Road and the other is a 74-acre parcel with views of waterfalls accessible only by paddling into on the river.

The smaller parcel was purchased about three years ago from the Beaver Creek Church Camp.

Small waterfalls run down hillsides in the Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

A news release from ODNR describes the land which is now considered public land as a “high quality habitat harboring rare plants and protecting both sides of the Little Beaver Creek State and National Wild and Scenic River.”

According to ODNR’s news release, the new preserve will protect nearly a mile of the river which includes a series of waterfalls, groundwater springs and habitat protecting several salamander species. Also, botanists from ODNR’s Division of Natural Areas and Preserves have recently discovered a population of running buffalo clover (Trillium) which is considered a potentially threatened native plant species.

Heidi Hetzel-Evans, communications, ODNR, noted that the Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve has a special connection with the scenic river and the national and state wilds river.

“When you add it to other parcels we have protected either through ownership or conservation easements, and we have another state nature preserve with acreage along the river, we actually have quite a bit of that river protected by public lands, and public lands that are open for citizens to do all kinds of cool stuff like paddling, fishing, wild life viewing and, depending on the site, hiking,” Hetzel-Evans said.

Hetzel-Evans noted that Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve is right now considered an unimproved site, and that dedicating the lands in their entirety is the first step. Now they can go in and start doing analysis for planning facilities and deciding what kind of amenities.

The Little Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River is protected by the newly designated Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Due to it being an unimproved site presently, it is open to the public, but people aren’t going to find trails yet and parking can be difficult, but that will change over time, Hetzel-Evans said.

“It’s early to figure out what we are going to be doing in the next three to five years,” Hetzel-Evans said. “Usually, one of the first things we do is some trails. We have another scenic river area that we turned into a nature preserve in Central Ohio and one of the first things they were working on was cutting new trails.”

Smith who has been at the new preserve working to remove invasive species of plants notes that there is an old rough trail through the smaller parcel about a mile long that they are working to clean up and improve. The trail has some historical significance as it passes by a part of the old lock system from the old Sandy Beaver Canal constructed in the early 1800s.

Smith also noted that next year marks the 50th anniversary of the national dedication of Little Beaver Creek as a scenic river and ODNR separately and in conjunction with the park district will be holding a variety of events with discussions about the different segments, hikes and other activities planned throughout the summer and into September.

Such events include a Little Beaver Stream Quality Monitoring Workshop on May 28, Little Beaver Creek Stream Stomp on June 2 and Aug. 18, The Tubs on June 19, hike old Stone Quarry on July 7, showing of Call of the Scenic River movie on July 20 and Sept. 17, Little Beaver Creek Stream Life Day on July 21, Lower Vondergren Trail hike on Aug. 11, the Geology of Little Beaver Creek on Sept. 14 and a hike along the main stream on Sept. 22.

Matthew Smith, East Ohio assistant regional scenic rivers manager with the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, looks at an invasive plant species, which he is working to remove from the Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Additional information on events can be found by Contacting the Columbiana County Parks District or ODNR.

A portion of the old lock system from the old Sandy Beaver canal stands on an old path along the river in the newly designated Little Beaver Creek State Nature Preserve. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)