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117 parks in 7 regions

Kiser Lake State Park

St. Paris · Champaign County
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
531acres
3.5trail miles
—established

Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
ODNR park finder (search this park)
Location confidence
Verified property location
Kiser Lake State Park, St. Paris
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
ReserveOhio — camping and cabin bookings
Hunting or permits
Migratory game bird hunting is permitted in season. Deer hunting is by lottery only. Check the park's hunting map and current rules before planning a trip.

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

The story of this land

John Kiser had an idea that most of his neighbors thought was foolish. He wanted to dam Mosquito Creek in this shallow valley and make a lake, and in the 1930s he pushed the project through and then donated the land to the state. The valley he flooded sat beside a stretch of wetland that had survived since the glaciers pulled back — a boggy, spring-fed area that supports plants found almost nowhere else in this part of Ohio.

That wetland is now the Kiser Lake Wetlands State Nature Preserve, and it's the ecological reason this park matters. A boardwalk trail runs through it. The habitat is a relic: the kind of cold, mineral-rich fen that was common across the region twelve thousand years ago and is now vanishingly rare.

What Kiser is best known for among people who use it, though, is the rule. No gas motors are permitted on the lake — none, at any horsepower. The result is 396 acres of quiet water that has made this one of the premier sailing lakes in Ohio, along with excellent canoeing and kayaking. On a windy Saturday the lake fills with sails and almost no engine noise, which is a genuinely unusual thing to experience in this state.

Things to do in the park

  • Sailing — the no-motor rule makes this one of Ohio's best sailing lakes
  • Boardwalk trail through the Kiser Lake Wetlands State Nature Preserve
  • Five fishing piers around the lake
  • Swimming beach
  • Sherman cabins and camper cabins in addition to campsites

Trails

Maps, reviews and recent trail reports for Kiser Lake State Park.

Find trails on AllTrails →

Things to do nearby

  • St. Paris and Urbana for supplies and food
  • Champaign County's covered bridges
  • Piatt Castles in West Liberty
  • Indian Lake, about 30 minutes north

Hiking trails

Five park trails totaling roughly 3.5 miles: North Bay Trail (1.5 mi, moderate), Red Oak Trail (0.7 mi), Rabbit Run Trail (0.6 mi), Pine Tree Trail (0.5 mi, currently closed), and Marina Trail (0.11 mi). The adjacent Kiser Lake Wetlands State Nature Preserve adds a 0.7-mile boardwalk trail.

Wildlife you might see

  • Rare wetland plant communities in the adjoining nature preserve — a glacial relic habitat
  • Waterfowl and wading birds
  • Migratory songbirds through the wetland corridor
  • White-tailed deer along the wooded edges

Fishing

  • Kiser Lake (396 acres): largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish, crappie and wiper. Five fishing piers are located around the lake.

Hunting

Migratory game bird hunting is permitted in season. Deer hunting is by lottery only. Check the park's hunting map and current rules before planning a trip.

Getting on the water

396 acres with no gas motors permitted — the defining rule of this park. What that produces is one of the quietest and best sailing lakes in Ohio, plus first-rate canoeing and kayaking.

Launches & facilities

Marina and boat launch
Access for sailboats, canoes, kayaks and electric-motor craft.
Five fishing piers
Spread around the lake for shore anglers.
Swimming beach
Separate from the boating water.

Good to know

  • No gas motors at all — this is not a restriction on horsepower, it's a prohibition. Plan accordingly.
  • Bring a sailboat if you have one; this is the lake Ohio sailors name first.
  • The wetlands boardwalk next door takes twenty minutes and is the most ecologically interesting thing here.

The Foolish Idea

John Kiser had an idea that most of his neighbors thought was foolish. He wanted to dam Mosquito Creek in this shallow valley and make a lake. In the 1930s he pushed the project through, and then he donated the land to the state.

The valley he flooded sat beside a wetland that had survived since the glaciers left, a boggy, spring-fed fen that grows plants found almost nowhere else in this part of Ohio. It is now the Kiser Lake Wetlands State Nature Preserve, and a boardwalk trail runs through it.

Behind the legend

The idea was older than it looks. A dam had been built on this spot in 1840 to power a mill, and it was later abandoned and fell apart. Kiser donated the land in 1932, construction of the new dam started in 1939, and the lake was filled a year later.

What he made is now best known for a rule: no gas motors at any horsepower. That keeps 396 acres of quiet water, one of the premier sailing lakes in Ohio, and on a windy Saturday it fills with sails and almost no engine noise.

If you go

Walk the boardwalk through the fen to see a habitat that was common across the region twelve thousand years ago. Then come back on a windy Saturday to watch the sailboats.

Campsites

Electric site
Campground with lake access
$31–35/night
Non-electric site
Quieter loops
$21–25/night
Tent-only site
Walk-in style sites
$21–25/night

Cabins

Sherman cabin
Simple cabins in the park
$55–80/night
Camper cabin
Basic bunk-style cabin
$50–70/night

On site

  • Showers and flush toilets
  • Group camp available
  • Five fishing piers
  • Swimming beach
  • Picnic areas with tables and grills
  • Marina
Continue to ReserveOhio →
Field Notes Ohio isn't connected to ReserveOhio, so it can't hold a site or take payment. Tapping through opens it in a new tab — search "Kiser Lake State Park" there to finish reserving.
Prefer the phone?937-362-3822

Restaurants nearby

The Farmer's Daughter
Opens 6 a.m., big portions, homemade cinnamon rolls. Closed Sundays
Directions
Studebaker's Country Restaurant
Fast, friendly, cheap. Cash or check only
Directions
Cafe Paradiso
Genuinely good Italian on the Urbana square. Closed Sundays
Directions

Gas stations nearby

Marathon St Paris
Opens 5 a.m., sells kerosene, and the breakfast burritos have a local following
Directions
Valero
Same intersection, second option
Directions

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.