Please be safe. It is never safe to stop your car on OH-2 in this area. State and local police ticket drivers pulled over to the side of this highway.

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge spans two counties. The northern part of the refuge is in Lucas County and the southern part is in Ottawa County.

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is a stop on the Lake Erie Birding Trail.

A mowed grass hiking trail is now open at the Fox Nature Preserve. The trail is accessible from Lickert-Harder Road just south of OH-2 across from the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. A gravel parking lot and information kiosk are visible on the west side of the road. This section of the preserve was owned by the Genzman family, and their 37-acre parcel was acquired through Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was restored in tandem with the Fox Unit, creating a 77-acre nature preserve.

Charles Fox, Jr. owned the farm for many years, allowing tenants to rent the house and fields. He came from a long line of tool and die makers and was the first of his family to attend college. As a teenager he was involved in church, attending Luther League youth group and being inspired by his pastor to pursue a career in the ministry. During those years in Toledo, he met Barbara McLain at Schmucker’s Diner, a favorite hangout of the local teens. Both Barbara and Charles attended Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where Charles went on to attend seminary, earning a Bachelor of Divinity with Honors. They married in 1953, and eventually moved to Farmington, Michigan, in 1960 when Charles was called as Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church. They had three children and Charles served as the beloved pastor of that congregation for 33 years. He held on to the farm, and his family now feels that it was for a special purpose.

When Charles passed away in 2016, his family wondered what they should do with the farm. Acreage owned by other family members had formed Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Barbara and their children worked with Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge to sell the farm, allowing us to facilitate adding acreage to the refuge for the first time. They feel good knowing that the land will be conserved for generations to come.

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge provides valuable habitat for a diversity of waterfowl and other migratory birds, resident wildlife, and endangered and threatened species. It provides a place for people to enjoy wildlife-dependent activities and learn about the complexities of the natural world through education and interpretive programming.

Ottawa Refuge is located in northwest Ohio. The entrance is located 15 miles east of Toledo, Ohio, or 16 miles west of Port Clinton, Ohio on OH-2. The entrance road is located on the north side of OH-2.

Visitors should stop at the visitor center which opened in 2007. This beautiful lodge-style building welcomes you and tells the refuge story. The building is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

There are ten miles of hiking trails. These trails travel through a variety of habitats and start behind the visitor center or from the trailhead parking lot.

The refuge wildlife drive is open on scheduled days from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The wildlife drive allows vehicles to travel through areas of the refuge not otherwise open to the general public. See the calendar of events for open dates.