Located in Pickaway County 5 miles north of Circleville on US-23; proceed 1.5 miles east on Hagerty Road to the preserve parking lot and trail system.

• Waterfowl observation during migration
• Woodland bird species
• Kettle hole lake
• Parking lot
• System of trails

Stages Pond State Nature Preserve, dedicated on August 23, 1974, is nature’s own monument to the great ice fields which once covered most of Ohio 17,000 years ago.

Stages Pond is an example of one of the distinctive features of glaciated areas, a kettle lake. As the glacier receded from this part of present-day Pickaway County, an immense chunk of ice broke free and remained behind to be covered with accumulating sands, gravel, and other glacial debris washing off the melting glacier. When the land-locked ice mass finally melted, it left a great depression in the landscape.

Today, some 30 acres of this 64-acre depression lie underwater with two adjacent marshy low areas in the central and southern parts of the depression. These areas, coupled with adjacent field and woodland areas, offer an opportunity to explore a number of habitats, each with its own unique array of species.

In the spring and fall, Stages Pond is a refuge for a wide variety of waterfowl that stop during migration to rest and feed on the pond and marshy areas. Summer residents include a nesting community of great blue herons and many species of shorebirds. The oak-hickory uplands and open fields support populations of songbirds, quail, pheasant, and several hawk species.

Stages Pond is equally diverse botanically. Aquatic, field, woodland, and marsh species abound from April to late October, although the spring season offers the most variety in the form of colorful native wildflowers.