Black Swamp Wildlife Area, Paulding County Ohio

The Black Swamp Wildlife Area is in Paulding County Ohio. The area was once the site of the Sugar Beet Factory. The area is 51 acres - 24 acres are woodland, 14 acres of wetlands, and 6 acres of old meadow.

From 1958 – 1990, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) turned the area into a wildlife park. In 1990 the 50.98-acre Paulding Ponds Wildlife Area was offered and approved for sale. The sale occurred on January 14, 1994, when the Paulding County Commissioners signed the release of lands for the Paulding County Area Foundation. Trails lie around the top banks of three ponds - along Flat Rock Creek and beyond the old Sugar Beet dam.

When we hiked here last fall Flat Rock Creek was dry and there was no water running over the dam. On this day it was a different story. It had recently rained and there was so much water the trails had puddles and the water covered the top of the dam so it was not visible. But my favorite visit to the Sugar Beet Dam was captured in this black and white photo. We parked in the parking lot that leads to one of the ponds. We walked out onto the pier to capture video of some of the surroundings. We then walked along the trail near the road. It was nice as the songbirds were active but the scenery was mostly vegetation. After a while, we hiked back to the parking lot and took the trail that leads to the dam. If you are unsure which trail to take to get to the old sugar beet dam. You would want to consider looking for markers. We take the trail near the dead tree and then turn left on the trail before we get to the large rock.