Welcome to Site #1 on our Geotrail designed by the Knox County Park District. We hope you enjoy the sites along our State Scenic Kokosing River. The extensive floodplains, wooded corridors, and rural landscape have helped maintain the Kokosing’s purity and high-quality natural state. As you paddle or walk to locate the geocaches on our trail, please scan and read the content within the QR codes. The information you gain will help you earn your Geocoin as we test your knowledge! It is our mission to educate on the importance of water quality in a watershed. Our geocoin sponsors include United Way of Knox County, Knox Community Hospital Koko Kid’s Club, and Knox County Recycling and Litter Prevention. To learn more about our partners click on the icons above. 

Bugs get a bad rap, don’t they? Mosquitos buzzing. Ants in the picnic. Mayflies coating roads and windows. But wait – did you know that mayflies are an indicator of good water quality? A variety of insects and other critters can only exist in clean streams and are a good sign as well as an integral part of the food chain for fish, birds, and mammals. We call these animals macroinvertebrates because they are large enough to see with the naked eye (macro) and without a backbone (invertebrate). 

This site is a popular location for Stream Quality Monitoring (SQM) due to the many riffle areas in the water. Riffles are known as shallower fast-moving areas where the rock breaks the water surface. These areas are important for fish habitat as they create an abundance of oxygen. Macroinvertebrates found here include a mayfly (photo 1), crayfish (photo 2), water penny (photo 3), and a hellgrammite (photo 4). Watch for a link to the Ohio Scenic Rivers Activity Book in another geocache, this activity book is an awesome introduction to macroinvertebrates.

Perhaps you live in an area in Ohio where SQM is conducted. In the Northeast area is Ashtabula, Chagrin, Conneaut, Little Beaver, Pymatuning, and Upper Cuyahoga. To the Northwest are the Maumee and Sandusky. The central area is the Mohican, Kokosing, Darby, and Olentangy and Southwest Ohio includes the Little Miami and Stillwater/Greenville watersheds. See the link below for more details of the SQM program. 

Before you leave the site, take a selfie at the river and post with your log on geocaching.com.  Post a photo at all sites to earn a free backpack! 

(source credit -Christine Szymanski, Stream River Coordinator of the ODNR Natural Areas and Preserves)