Info:
- For on the water activities, hiking, camping, etc.
- Has a beach (700 foot sand beach)
- Closest State Park to the University of Mount Union
- 2650 acre lake
- You can also disc golf!
Where is this located? Portage County near Ravenna
The first state OH park I’m officially posting about (bc Lake Milton isn’t fully done yet) and it was a wonderful little get-away!
The Way There
I got my Dunkin’ and cruised there (but got passed twice lol). I was very excited for my first adventure of the year. The signs were kind’ve confusing and I ended up parking near the boat ramp and the mountain bike area (so near West Ramp). I walked around observing the area (even though I was confused where the trails were) but I got on my AllTrails app and found a trail right near the campground 10 minutes away. On the app the trail was called ‘Northern Loop’ and was about 3 miles. The lake; however, was somewhat filled with boats and canoes. There were also lots of fishermen out (I arrived near 11 o’clock).
TIP: Use the ‘AllTrails’ app which gives you trails near where you are located!
Continuing, I parked and got out. The smell of campfire filled my nose and, honestly, I loved it as I was surrounded by woods. It filled the vibe of a campsite. Two older people a few cars away were unloading bikes.
The Trail
I started walking near the entrance to the campsite and turned a sharp left where the trail started…its dirt path going deep into the woods. At times, the trail was wide and then went narrow for a time and was full of downhills and up-hills.
Before I forget! The Northern Loop trail is a combination of:
- Jay Lake Trail
- Club Moss
- Deer Run
If you continue through Wild Cherry it’ll make the trail longer. I cut that out so the length of my hike was 2.06 miles.
Moving on, the first part of my hike I saw a teepee made of sticks. It was neat as I’ve never seen anything like that before. Then, I saw what looked like a little swamp. This loop had many areas where you could see the lake. Each time I stopped to take in the view I was met with the melodic sound of birds chirping or the sound of small waves hitting the shore from the boats (and sometimes the motor running lol). Overall, it was very calm and relaxing just looking at the lake.
Over the course of the hike, I jumped over a huge hole (not that deep haha) with water flowing underneath and walked across bridges made of logs. The final part of the hike was an overlook of the lake. Beautiful! Straight down from the overlook was a stretch of sand with some downed branches then the vast lake surrounded by trees. I love overlooks-they make you see so far ahead and wide. Overlooks like this one at West Branch showcased the scenery I had worked for on the hike with little sneak-peaks along the way. The finale was well-worth it!
Thoughts
I saw very few people on this trail…I want to say 6 (2 hiking together, 2 disc-golfing, and 2 walking a dog). The weather was humid and muggy and I was sweating a whole bunch haha.
There’s not really a whole lot negative I could say about West Branch. It’s very woodsy so bring bug spray and get ready for dirt to get in your shoes (I was very frustrated at times as I had to keep picking them out…but that’s hiking for ya!). The first impression I got from this park was that it’s a park for water-activities more than hiking and disc golfing. That’s why I recommend you have a watercraft to get the most out of this park!
Overall, nice multi-use park giving various opportunities for activities!
