Turkeyfoot area -new owner

[GrizzFlyer]

Was advised by a DNR employee a couple of days ago that the Turkeyfoot area on the old US24 is no longer under the jurisdiction of Mary Jane Thurston State Park. It has been traded from the DNR State Parks to DNR Wildlife, about a month ago. It was a trade for the Wingfoot area near Akron. Apparently DNR Wildlife got the majority of the Wingfoot area several years ago, and poured millions of $$$ into it. They traded it to State Parks for the Turkeyfoot area.

This *might* bode well for Turkeyfoot. It seems that in the past, Turkeyfoot was always treated like the red-headed stepchild by State Parks. Very little maintenance done, no improvements. Wildlife Division seems to have $$$ to spend, so perhaps something will be done to maintain or even improve Turkeyfoot. Put that rickety bridge on the top of the list.

[Handyman-N-Fam]

Caches aren't allowed in Wildlife areas though, right?
I wonder if maybe the ones already there will be allowed to stay.

I saw after the CITO that the sign was laying down. I thought maybe it got hit by a car or something.

[cheechgang]

Earthcaches only allowed. I'll be getting right on that.

[GrizzFlyer]

I checked the official DNR Wildlife website blog back into last December, and found no mention of the trade. The DNR maps do not show any changes.

Maybe best just to sit tight on this one and see what develops.

[TeamMina]

We're sitting tight. We know there's plenty of "bench seating".

[GrizzFlyer]

OK, here's the Real Deal..... Did a cache across from Turkeyfoot today, then went down the road a ways to a parking area to log it. While I was there, a state Wildlife Officer drove in, so I talked to him about this. He says it now belongs to the Wildlife Division, everything on this side of the river that used to be with state parks. They have no intent to improve anything, in fact, they are going to let the whole thing go back to "natural". They are going to let the trails grow over to discourage anybody except hunters from going in there. He said that since the Wildlife Division gets the vast majority of their funding from hunting and fishing licenses, they feel that hunters and fishermen should be the focus on DNR Wildlife property. They especially don't want bicycles in there during any hunting season, as it disturbs the hunters. No ATV's at any time. They are not going to improve the bridge. Nobody except hunters on the property after 10PM until 8AM the next morning, and during any hunting season, its closed to everyone except hunters from 8PM-8AM. I mentioned that I was a geocacher, but didn't specifically ask about geocaches in the area. I didn't want to poke the bear. He did not express any concern, however. I should have asked him about usage of the Buckeye Trail, since it runs along the edge of the area, but didn't think of it until we parted. For the time being, he said it will retain the Turkeyfoot name, but since there is another Turkeyfoot wildlife area in Ohio, it might change.