This park features beautiful riverside flora and fauna; provides public access and trails from downtown Conneaut to Conneaut Creek and celebrates the heritage of an abutting Indian mound. Boardwalk and trail to Scenic Conneaut Creek.

• Fishing
• Kayaking
• Hiking
• Birding

This tenth Ashtabula County Metropark to open contains 178 acres total, with 53 acres of a streamside peninsula jutting into Conneaut Creek connected to downtown Conneaut by the concrete Arch Bridge and OH-7. OH-7 cuts the park into two sections, with the remaining 125 acres on the east side of OH-7. The as-yet undeveloped eastern park section is replete with substantial bluffs, scenic vistas, waterfalls, and large areas of hemlock swamp. However, its dominant feature is that it protects two miles of Smokey Run, a Cold-Water Habitat trout spawning stream that flows northward from beyond Interstate 90 and empties into Conneaut Creek adjacent to this property.

The newest open Metropark already has two parking areas, 1.5 miles of trail, and signage on the western 53 acres now being used by the public for hiking, fishing, boating, and bird watching. “We are pleased to provide a Metropark within walking distance of downtown Conneaut. It provides public access to an additional .75 of a mile of Conneaut Creek State and National Scenic River”, noted Conneaut resident and Board President, Robert J. Best. Best is also a member of Friends of Conneaut Creek and a former founding member of the ODNR Conneaut Creek Scenic River Advisory Council.

“This park provides an amenity and resource to Conneaut residents and tourists alike”, observed James Hockaday, Conneaut City Manager. “Indian Mound Metropark is a great addition to Conneaut and Ashtabula County by providing additional public access to Conneaut Creek, walking trails, and interpretive signage celebrating our region’s history. This Metropark also serves as an anchor for Conneaut’s recently adopted Comprehensive Plan both protecting and providing public access to the State and National resource that Conneaut Creek is.” The new Metropark provides value added to our community”, he noted.

Metroparks is initially calling the new park Indian Mound Metropark because of its adjacency to the only remaining Native American Indian structures in Ashtabula County. “The park includes the base of the steep hillside and bluff apparently utilized as a fortified village or enclave over the centuries by a succession of Iroquoian tribes from the Late Woodland Period”, commented Larry Frimerman, Executive Director. “Conneaut Fort, or Conneaut Works as is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Ohio Archaeological Inventory, is an elevated and fortified enclosure, rather than a “mound” in the Moundbuilders Tradition.”