Coldwater Creek
Nature & Wildlife Corridor
Coldwater Creek
Nature & Wildlife Corridor
Coldwater Creek Nature and Wildlife Corridor was established in 2021. Situated on just over 117 acres, this site is a unique restoration of former cropland to upland prairie habitat and wetland areas. The property includes nearly one mile of grass walking path around its north, east and west sides. The site also has a small parking area. With 10 acres planted to a diverse food plot each year, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources uses this site for both dove hunts and controlled released pheasant hunts.
More About the Wetlands
Owned by the Mercer County Commissioners, the site improves the wildlife habitat diversity in this region near Grand Lake St. Marys while also acting as flooding protection. In the mid 1800’s, when Grand Lake St. Marys was constructed, Coldwater Creek was rerouted to the east along the south edge of this property to feed more water into the canal lake. A levee was constructed to force the water east into the lake. Some extreme flooding events in the last 15 years has caused water to escape Coldwater Creek and head north, where the creek historically flowed, causing flooding downstream. This project allows for over 60 million gallons of water to be stored on its 117 acres.
The project was made possible by Clean Ohio Greenspace funding and H2Ohio funding through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Access Engineering, Mercer Soil and Water Conservation District and VTF Excavation, LLC all worked on this project.
