COLUMBUS, OH -- Nature enthusiasts throughout Ohio are encouraged to enter a lottery to tour Ohio's only floating island - Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve in Buckeye Lake - during the bog's annual open house from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 26. Attendance at this popular open house has been limited to 480 people this year in an effort to curtail potential damage to the bog's delicate sphagnum moss surface, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.
The names of the 480 visitors will be determined in a lottery drawing in early June. Anyone interested in touring the bog on June 26 should send a postcard to the
ODNR Division of Natural Areas & Preserves,
1889 Fountain Square Court, F-1,
Columbus, Ohio 43224.
Postcards must be postmarked by May 31 and contain the following information:
- contact name,
- address with zip code,
- daytime phone number and
- total number of people in the party (not to exceed four).
Only one postcard will be accepted per family. Lottery winners will be notified by mail in early June.
In case of cancellations, walk-ins may be accepted on the day of the open house. Boat transportation to and from the island will be provided by the Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society for a donation of $5 per person.
Cranberry Bog is one of Ohio's most unique natural areas. The 11-acre island, located approximately 100 yards off the north shore of Buckeye Lake in Fairfield County, was registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1968. Its unique composition gives the island a spongy surface, therefore visitors are required to remain on the boardwalk.
The island dates from 1830 when Buckeye Lake was created as a feeder reservoir for the Ohio & Erie Canal. A 50-acre portion of the lake's bed, once a thriving sphagnum bog, broke loose and rose with the waters. Cranberry Bog is what remains of that portion after 174 years. Rare orchids and an abundance of cranberry and pitcher plants grow wild on the island, as well as tawny cottongrass, scheuchzeria, mud sedge and round-leafed sundew. The island's grass-pink and rose pogonia orchids are traditionally at their peak in mid-June.
Aside from the annual open house, visitation to Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve is by permit only.