Join the staff of the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Natural Areas and Preserves and “The Friends of the Kent Bog” volunteers on Saturday, October 13, from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., to celebrate Gordon F. Vars Bog Day. There will be music, a dedication honoring Gordon F. Vars, founder of the Friends group, and a guided hike through one of Ohio’s most unique ecosystems.
The Kent Bog State Nature Preserve is a remnant boreal bog created as result of glacial activity in this area thousands of years ago. It is home to one of the largest tamarack populations south of Canada. Tamaracks, Larix laricina, are deciduous conifers, meaning that they shed all of their “needles” at one time each year unlike most other evergreens. The Kent Bog is also home to leather leaf, bog holly, high-bush blueberry, cranberry, and sphagnum moss, plants that grow only in the acidic environment of the bog.
The approximately one-hour hike winds through a half-mile long boardwalk that is ADA accessible. Kent Bog is located on Meloy Rd. approximately 1/8 of a mile west of S.R. 43 in Kent. Parking is limited so you are encouraged to car pool.