Buckeye Lake State Park

2905 Lieb’s Island Road
Millersport, OH 43046

https://www.stateparks.com/buckeye_lake_state_park_in_ohio.html
Open 24 Hours
Free

Buckeye Lake State Park

Buckeye Lake State Park is Ohio’s oldest state park. This 3100-acre man-made lake was started in late the 1820s to provide a reliable water supply as the canal descended from here to the Ohio River. The Ohio & Erie Canal connected Lake Erie at Cleveland and the Ohio River at Portsmouth. In the early-to-mid 20th century, it was the site of a large amusement park with interurban train service from Columbus. Private homes line the lakefront, but the public can enjoy access for boating, fishing, and swimming at Buckeye Lake State Park. A 4-mile shoreline cycling/walking path connects Crystal Beach on the north shore (former site of Buckeye Lake amusement park) to Lieb’s Island. Crystal and Fairfield Beaches are public and open during the summer.

Buckeye Lake State Park is Ohio’s oldest state park. This 3100-acre man-made lake was started in late the 1820s to provide a reliable water supply as the canal descended from here to the Ohio River. The Ohio & Erie Canal connected Lake Erie at Cleveland and the Ohio River at Portsmouth. In the early-to-mid 20th century, it was the site of a large amusement park with interurban train service from Columbus. Private homes line the lakefront, but the public can enjoy access for boating, fishing, and swimming at Buckeye Lake State Park. A 4-mile shoreline cycling/walking path connects Crystal Beach on the north shore (former site of Buckeye Lake amusement park) to Lieb’s Island. Crystal and Fairfield Beaches are public and open during the summer.

The Ohio & Erie Canal’s two summits were the Portage Summit at Akron and the Licking Summit at Newark. From these high points the canal went “downhill” to both the north and the south. The locks that enabled canal boats to go up and down in stair-step fashion used around 80,000 gallons of water for a single “lift,” so each summit needed a large reservoir. For the Licking Summit, a swampy pond south of Newark was the solution. After construction started in the late 1820s, the canal builders diverted water from the South Fork of the Licking River, and by 1830 the Licking Summit Reservoir had filled and became a steady water source all through the working years of the canal. Draft animals pulling boats into the lake from the canal along the north shore walked along a raised embankment to cross to the canal’s exit at Millersport.

The state renamed the reservoir Buckeye Lake in 1894, and it became a popular recreation destination, helped by an electric interurban railroad that provided easy travel from Columbus and other cities. The Buckeye Lake Yacht Club, still in existence, was formed in 1906, and within a few years the lake hosted an amusement park, hotels, and summer cottages. Even the Ku Klux Klan found it a desirable place for its rallies. By the 1930s the interurban was gone, and families began to live full time at the lake. It became a state park in 1949, and the amusement park shut down by 1970. Today both seasonal and year-round residents enjoy Buckeye Lake, and portions of the canal both north and south of the lake are still watered by it.

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Notes for Travelers

A downloadable map of Buckeye Lake is available at https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/parks/parkmaps/buckeyelakeparkmap.pdf

https://visitfairfieldcounty.org/category/buckeye-lake/



Credits

Jeff Darbee, Nancy Recchie, David Meyer

Additional Resources

Meyer, David. Life Along the Ohio Canal – Licking Reservoir to Lockbourne and Columbus Feeder

Meyer, David. Life Along the Ohio Canal in the Scioto River Valley

The Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society Museum is located at 4729 Walnut Road, Buckeye Lake 43005. http://www.millersportohio.com/history