A permit is required to enter this former mine site.

A permit is required to enter this former mine site.

The Dresden Wildlife Habitat site is a 96-acre former aggregate mining facility adjacent to the Muskingum River in southeastern Ohio. Previous mining practices resulted in the creation of several lakes and ponds that are interspersed with riparian flood plain forest and seasonally wet meadows. Riparian zones, forests and grasslands provide habitat for a number of species, including great blue herons, kingfishers, ospreys, bald eagles, beavers, river otters and white-tailed deer. Typical plant communities include species common in Southeast Ohio, such as cottonwood, sycamore, willow and silver maple. Understory plants common in the region include equisetum, poison hemlock and Virginia creeper. Open field grasslands are populated with smooth brome grass and tall fescue. Low-lying, seasonally wet areas include a variety of sedges and rushes.