Cranberry Bog - Buckeye Lake, Ohio - Carnivorous Plant Localities on Waymarking.com

For the preservation of this locality, collection is prohibited

Because of the fragile nature of the island one can only visit by obtaining written permission, or the Ohio Department of Natural Resources conducts tours once a year that is open to the public. One has to contact the ODNR in advance and permits/tour reservations are given through a lottery system.

The Cranberry Bog, or Cranberry Island at Buckeye Lake, Ohio is thought to be the only such landform in existence.

Prior to the area being settled this land was just a swamp. In the early 1800's the Ohio-Erie canal was created to link the Ohio River to Lake Erie. Buckeye Lake was created to feed water into the canal, being that it was the highest area between the two. When the dam was built and water started to back up, a 50 acre section of the swamp began to expand. The bog mat rose 8 feet with the level of the water thus creating a bog surrounded by water, as opposed to water surrounded by bogs as is normally seen. It is believed that this is unique and occurs nowhere else in the world.

Due to the nature of bogs and freshwater, Cranberry Bog is constantly being eroded away. It began at around 50 acres in the 1830's and is now down to about 10 acres. The problem is the bog and sphagnum moss is very acidic, and the surrounding freshwater is very alkaline.

In this environment one can find two types of carnivorous plants (Sarracenia purpurea or Northern Pitcher Plant, and Drosera rotundifolia or Roundleaf Sundew.), two types of Orchids (Calopogon, and Pogonia ophioglossoides or Snakemouth Orchid), sphagnum moss, and of course, cranberries.

Sources:

Ohio Department of Natural Resources