Birding Drives are routes for birding trips which can be accomplished in one day, stopping to walk and bird at various eBird hotspots. For each birding drive, a Google map is provided with the route and suggested stops at eBird hotspots. You may save the link to the Google map on your smartphone or tablet, or print a copy on paper to take with you. Links are provided with information about each eBird hotspot. Follow those links for more information about birding each location.
Canton Birding Drive
Click on the hotspot names below to view the page about that hotspot.
This Birding Drive explores eBird hotspots around Canton in Stark County. When you submit checklists here you help to add to the data about birds in this region of Ohio.
9877 Alabama Avenue Southwest Wilmont, Ohio 44689
From Canton, drive west on US-30 for 9 miles. Take the OH-241 exit toward Brewster and Mount Eaton, turn left onto OH-241 south, and drive 5.6 miles. Turn left onto West Lebanon Street and drive 3.6 miles. Turn left onto US-250 east and go 1.2 miles. Turn left onto Alabama Avenue Southwest and go .2 mile. Arrive at The Wilderness Center.
This 619-acre site has six trails with several connecting routes. On the trails, you can see old growth forest, meadows, prairie, wetlands, Fox and Sugar Creeks, Wilderness Lake and a pond. You can wander through nature for hours. The Headquarters includes the Center’s Interpretive Building, Astronomy Education Building, Picnic Shelters, Viewing Tower, and much more.
Perry Drive, 12th Street Northwest, and Genoa Avenue Canton, Ohio 44708
From The Wilderness Center, drive southwest on Alabama Avenue Southwest for .2 mile. Turn right onto US-250 west and drive 1.2 miles. Turn right onto West Lebanon Road and drive 3.6 miles. Turn right onto OH-241 north and drive 5.4 miles. Turn right to merge onto US-30 east and drive 5.4 miles. Take the OH-627 exit, turn left onto OH-627, and go .3 mile. Turn right onto County Road 249 and go .8 mile. Turn left onto Genoa Avenue and drive 3.1 miles. Turn right onto 12th Street and go .4 mile. Turn right into Sippo Lake.
The Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park is a center of nature, culture, and life-long learning established in June 2007 as a partnership between the Stark County Park District and the Stark County District Library. The facility includes three banquet and meeting rooms, a video conference center, the Perry Sippo Branch Library featuring a 58,000-item collection with specialized nature and Canalway history resources, outdoor terrace and indoor fireplace, drive-through book drop, 400-gallon aquarium, wireless internet access, and public computers.
The Stark County Park District and Stark County District Library-Perry Sippo Branch share more than a building. Staff members work together daily to demonstrate a commitment to education, the environment, community outreach, and stewardship of financial resources that make this partnership unique.
The Sommer Wildlife Conservation Center and the Public Safety/Operations departments are located at the Genoa Avenue entrance (798 and 800 Genoa Avenue Northwest, Massillon, 44646).
Sippo Lake Park was purchased in 1977 with a Community Development Block Grant because of its central location between two of Stark County’s major cities. It provides visitors with a variety of amenities, programs, and 202 acres of deciduous forest, wetlands, old fields, and mixed shrub areas. Featuring a variety of habitats for wildlife viewing, this quiet urban oasis is home to a large number of bird species, including blue herons and other waterfowl. The songs of spring peepers, frogs, and toads also enliven evening sunsets along the shoreline of the 100-acre lake.
7984 Fulton Drive Northwest Massillon, Ohio 44646
From Sippo Lake, turn right onto 12th Street Northwest and drive 1.2 miles. Turn left onto Perry Drive and go 1.2 miles. Turn right onto Brunnerdale Avenue and drive 2.3 miles. Turn left onto OH-687 (Fulton Road) and drive 2 miles. Turn left into the Jackson Township Park.
Access to Jackson Bog is through Jackson Township Park, which is east of the bog on Fulton Drive Northwest. Parking is available at the township park. (GPS coordinates for the parking area are 40.859581, -81.498406)
From Carlton Schooley
From the 1.25-mile Boardwalk Trail, birders and wildlife watchers will be intrigued with the unique, rare and diverse vegetation. Jackson hosts a number of very rare, habitat-specific insect-eating plants including the Pitcher Plant and Sundew. Birdlife is quality over quantity. Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow can be found in the lush grassy fen wetlands, while Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting favor the woodland edges. Ovenbird and Hooded Warbler can be heard from within the woodlands, while Great Crested Flycatcher and Eastern Wood-Pewee perch atop open snags at the bog edge.
North Canton, Ohio 44720
From Jackson Bog, turn right onto Fulton Road and drive .7 mile. Turn left onto OH-241 north and drive 1.3 miles. Turn right onto Portage Street and drive 2 miles. Turn left onto Frank Avenue and go .7 mile. Turn right onto Applegrove Street and drive 3.1 miles. Turn right onto Marquardt Avenue and go 1 mile. Turn left onto East Maple Street and go .3 mile. Arrive at the Hoover Connector Trail
Washington Square, Hoover Park, Hoover High School, the North Canton YMCA, and North Canton’s baseball fields are connected by this urban trail. Surrounding natural areas provide ideal habitat for hawks, foxes, groundhogs, and rabbits. The terrain is lined with spring beauty, common wood sorrel, and mayapple in addition to wild red raspberry and elderberry bushes providing food for wildlife. Goldfinches, cardinals, and chickadees are common here.