16 November 2014
Lake #6 Jackson
Lake, Jackson Lake State Park, Jackson County
Having spent yesterday kayaking the two lakes in Lawrence
County, today I headed to neighboring Jackson County to kayak Jackson
Lake. On my way to Oak Hill on State
Route 93, I spotted an old iron furnace near the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in
Lawrence County and pulled over to take a closer look. The Olive Iron Furnace is unique because of
its arch. When the furnace was
originally built in 1845 it had two stone arches that supported its boilers
(for a brief history on the iron furnaces of southern Ohio see my post for
yesterday captioned Beaver Haven). The
Olive Iron Furnace was the last charcoal iron furnace to operate in Lawrence
County; it closed in 1910. I find it sad
to see such a cool piece of history falling into disrepair.
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| Olive Iron Furnace State Route 93 |
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| Olive Iron Furnace Unique Arch |
After my brief stop I got back on the road. Jackson Lake is located approximately two
miles west of the town of Oak Hill. The
lake is accessible off of State Route 279 or Tommy Been Road. The 242-acre lake is located within the
349-acre Jackson Lake State Park. The park
address is 35 Tommy Been Road, Oak Hill, Ohio 45656. The boat launch ramp for Jackson Lake is
located on McCorkle Road just south of State Route 279. Jackson Lake is scheduled for a four to five
foot draw down starting December 1st. The lake is already shallow: it is six feet deep in most areas and twelve
feet deep at its maximum. I would think
that the lake would be unusable once the draw down is completed. Fishing is permitted at Jackson Lake and
there is a ten horsepower limit. There
was one person out fishing during my visit.
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| Boat Launch Jackson Lake |
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| Cute, Clean Pit Toilet at Boat Launch |
To be honest, I did not care for Jackson Lake. I tried hard to create my own fun but no
matter how hard I tried channeling positive feelings about the lake it just
wouldn’t happen. To be fair, it was a
dreary day. There was none of the
sunshine that I got to enjoy yesterday and there was a cold wind that kept
blowing my hair into my eyes, which got to be very annoying after a while. I did enjoy kayaking under the road bridge
for State Route 279 (I have a thing for going under bridges) and creating
stories in my head about the small, dilapidated cottage in the park. There is a really nice swinging bench over looking
Jackson Lake that would be a great place to hang out in warmer weather.
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| State Route 93 Bridge Over Jackson Lake |
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| Not Much of a Challenge But Still Fun |
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| It Looks Like a House Where the Forest Fairies Live |
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| A Great Place to Sit and Enjoy Jackson Lake (When It Is Much, Much Warmer) |
My daughter chose to name the baby duck for Jackson Lake, Sapphire. Sapphire managed to find the only spot where she could get tangled up, a small bed of water lilies, for her photo shoot. She did enjoy trying to catch up to her cousins, the Canadian Geese.
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| Sapphire, Baby Duck for Jackson Lake |
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| Sapphire Back on Board |
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| Canadian Geese at Jackson Lake |
The best part about kayaking Jackson Lake was discovering
the Olive Iron Furnace on my way there.
If I hadn’t kayaked Jackson Lake then I would not have passed the furnace.
Like Ernest Hemingway is quoted as saying,
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that
matters, in the end.”
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| Jackson Lake State Park |
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