This trip report is for canoers and kayakers that want to see where they're going before they go. Please visit Kohne Camera & Photo while on your way. We're a full service imaging lab and camera dealer operated entirely by photo enthusiasts ready to attend every photographic desire you have including hardware, lab work, and knowledge.
Now, a paddling report from Lake La Su An in Williams County, Ohio:
The name for Lake La Su An is a combo name. Within this Ohio DNR Wildlife Area, there is Lake La Vere, Lake Sue, and Lake Ann, plus eleven others ranging from 80 acres to 1/4-acre. There are hiking trails all around, the best being the one that circles La Su An.
The place is "closed" Tuesdays and Wednesdays, at least to motorboaters and fishermen. Hikers and kayakers (or canoers) can go any time they like, but we'd have to shoulder our boats around a closed gate (60-70 feet to the launch ramp) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The reason they close is that there's a fish check station. They want to know what you caught so they can keep track of the fish populations and stock the lake properly; Tuesday and Wednesday is the weekend for the fish check station guys.
The lake is about 80 acres and you can't see all of it from the parking lot, boat ramp or fishing pier. The shores are a both muddy and thick with floating muck & waterplants in the summer. Other places have no natural provision at all for getting out, stretching legs, rubbing backside, looking around, using a tree toilet or anything else, but La Su An lets you out as long as you're willing to get your feet a little muddy and algae-laden. It's not a problem, the stuff washes off.
I hiked this area three times last winter just to case the joint. To actually paddle it was fabulous. It's wild yet quiet (except for birds), and substantially beautiful. I found a channel in what appeared to be a solid land mass. It was about 30 inches wide. Deer paths go off to the right and left. It's too narrow to paddle but you can pull yourself through by grabbing the sticks and grasses. There's not much point in doing so; you could just paddle around the land mass instead, but HEY! It's a channel! The last time I went through here I scared up a deer. She snorted at me from a very close distance.
There's one place on the lake directly across from the dock and a little to the left, where there's a bird stand. It's a nesting facility for any creature that wants to occupy it. As of this writing, there are a couple of Ospreys in it. A sign nearby indicates it's an ENDANGERED SPECIES AREA. No legal entry so you can't walk around there while they're nesting. Still, there is a little break in the trees quite near the Osprey nest. Motor boats can't get there, they'll break a propeller. Kayaks and canoes can get there, though.
Location: to get to the La Su An Wildlife Area, just examine a DNR map. Otherwise, exit the Ohio Turnpike at exit 13 (Route 15), head north to Route 20A. Take a left (west) until you meet County Road 7. Turn right (north). When the road t-bones, turn left. La Su An Wildlife area will be on your right well before a mile has gone by. Figure a 60-minute one-way road trip from Toledo.
Spring and Autumn are the best for this place, but any time is really very good. It's quiet and wild, with no properties around the edges. I'll be back.
