LOUDONVILLE — A national newspaper has a simple description to sum up Mohican State Park.
“Mohican is a recreational paradise for people who love adventure,” USA Today stated.
Mohican State Park Manager Jenny Roar said the park’s recognition in USA Today’s 10Best State Parks List reflects its strong visitor support.
Mohican ranked the second-best park in the nation, according to public voting by hikers, bikers, paddlers and explorers choosing their favorite parks.
Ohio State Parks also received the Gold Medal Award for Excellence through the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. This recognizes Ohio’s state parks as one of the best in the country.
Mohican resonated with visitors while continuing to prioritize preservation, education and restoration.
Hiking and biking trails run throughout the 4,541 acres of the Mohican-Memorial State Forest. The mountain biking trail system was rated “Epic” by trail users.
“We’ve got hiking trails, biking trails, which the biking trail system here at Mohican was named Epic, and that’s a user rating,” Roar said.
Located along the Clear Fork of the Mohican State Scenic River, the park offers more than 32 miles of waterways known for their scenic views.
Loudonville is considered the canoe capital of Ohio. The Mohican Water Trail, supported through Paddle Ohio partnerships, invites visitors to canoe, kayak and tube.
“They’ll go canoeing or kayaking, or they’ll take a long tube float down the river,” Roar said. “Those are some of the big appeals for people that just love adventure.”
Recreational activities invite visitors to experience the park, but education and preservation remain central to the park’s mission.
Mohican’s Visitor Center opened last year and has become a key addition. It offers park history and information useful for all ages.
“Everything that you see inside the Visitor Center is relative to Mohican and the Mohican area,” Roar said.
The Visitor Center features exhibits focused on Mohican’s history and natural environment. It also includes a children’s play area and information about upcoming events and programs.
Roar said the Visitor’s Center encourages more people to interact with the history and educational resources available by accessing information about park initiatives and programs.
The Visitor’s Center was the last major project completed. However, Roar said there are constantly projects going on behind-the-scenes.
“Whether it’s infrastructure improvements or improvements to our trail systems or environmental sustainability projects, we’ve always got little projects and other big projects going on,” Roar said. “The projects never stop.”
Volunteer groups play a major role in the park’s trails and historic sites. Trail clubs and naturalist programs work to keep Mohican clean and accessible.
“It’s also about maintaining the history that’s here and maintaining the things that people enjoy and why they keep coming back,” Roar said.
The park has three dedicated trail clubs for the hiking, bridle and bike trails, working to clean up litter and clear each path.
“They really help us maintain the trails in the park. I think we have very little litter because of the volunteers that go help us out with the trails,” Roar said.
A separate volunteer group also helps run the historic Wolf Creek Grist Mill.
“Mohican is a beast,” Roar said. “It takes a team of people that are passionate about it, not just staff but also volunteers and community members as well that help us out.”
Visitors are drawn to the park’s landmarks, including the covered bridge and gorge overlook. Mohican also offers views of the Clear Fork Gorge, a designated National Natural Landmark.
Roar said she was pleasantly surprised to see the impact Mohican has on Ashland County, and the overwhelming love the park received through the votes.
“I was and wasn’t surprised because Mohican is simply awesome,” Roar said.
Unlike rankings decided by judges, Mohican’s No. 2 spot was determined by the people, a sign of the park’s lasting connection with its visitors. Roar said the park is rooted in generational appeal.
“I get people who tell me, their family has been coming here for 40 years. They’ll say, my grandparents brought us, so then they bring their children,” Roar said.
While longtime visitors continue to return, Roar said new visitors often discover what keeps families coming back for generations.
“We get people just stopping by for the weekend for the first time and then they fall in love with it,” she said.
