Cooke Family Wildlife Conservation Park

This gorgeous 163-acre park is located along the Blackfork of the Mohican River, 10 miles west of Ashland. It has over three miles of hiking trails that run through a unique mixture of prairie grasslands, hardwood forests, pine forests, wetlands, swamps forests, marshes, beaver ponds, and floodplains.

The 16-acre marsh that lies in the park is home to a myriad of wetland loving birds, mink, muskrat, amphibians, and a wide variety of native sedges and unusual plants. The winding Black Fork River which is surrounded by floodplains that host an unusually large population of leopard and pickerel frogs. The river is available for fishing with a State of Ohio license. Beavers have occasionally damned up a tributary entering the river.

The park was made possible by the Cooke family of Ashland, and being an avid sportsmen, the park includes a trap shooting range and a three-acre fishing pond. The enclosed pavilion over looks the beautiful three acre pond. This park also has hunting access, which is restricted during parts of the hunting season. Hunting for deer (bow and gun) turkey, and small game is permitted at this site.