Plum Run Prairie named Ohio's newest state nature preserve
Plum Run Prairie became Ohio’s 156th state nature preserve, adding 138 protected acres and about 2.5 miles of trails near Peebles. The Adams County site shelters 11 state-listed rare and endangered plant species.
Plum Run Prairie in Adams County has become Ohio’s 156th state nature preserve, placing 138 acres of prairie and woodland under the Ohio Department of Natural Resources system. Near Peebles, the site now gives hikers a protected place to walk while shielding habitat for 11 state-listed rare and endangered plant species.
ODNR’s preserve listing puts Plum Run Prairie inside the state’s Division of Natural Areas & Preserves portfolio, the framework that protects Ohio’s most sensitive natural sites. Trail information for the preserve shows about 2.5 miles of hiking trail through the prairie and the woodlands, making the property both a conservation tract and a public destination for people who want to see native grassland on foot.
The preserve is associated with the Arc of Appalachia, which manages nearby conservation land in southern Ohio. That connection adds Plum Run Prairie to a growing cluster of protected outdoor sites that already helps define Adams County for hikers and nature watchers. County residents and visitors already know names such as Chaparral Prairie, Adams Lake Prairie State Nature Preserve and Ka-ma-ma Prairie, and Plum Run Prairie strengthens that network with another publicly recognized place to explore.
The new designation also underscores why Adams County has become one of Ohio’s key counties for prairie conservation. In a region better known in many places for hills and forests, Plum Run Prairie preserves open ground, woodland edges and a rare plant community that cannot be replaced once it is lost. For local families, birders and hikers, the value is immediate: a 138-acre preserve with a trail system and a place where native prairie species remain visible on the landscape instead of disappearing under development.
With the preserve now counted among Ohio’s state nature sites, Plum Run Prairie stands alongside the county’s other protected lands as part of Adams County’s identity as a destination for conservation, hiking and rare natural habitats.
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