Goll Woods State Nature Preserve
| Goll Woods State Nature Preserve | |
| Nature Reserves in Ohio | |
| Named for: Peter and Catherine Goll | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Ohio |
| Counties | Fulton County |
| Location | Fulton County, Ohio |
| - coordinates | 41°33′13″N 84°21′41″W / 41.5535862°N 84.3615031°WCoordinates: 41°33′13″N 84°21′41″W / 41.5535862°N 84.3615031°W |
| Area | 321 acres (130 ha) |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Management | Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Recreation |
 Location of Goll Woods State Nature Preserve
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| Website: Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Goll Woods State Nature Preserve | |
Goll Woods State Nature Preserve is a 321-acre (130 ha) Nature Preserve in western Fulton County, Ohio near Archbold, Ohio.
It is named after Peter and Catherine Goll, who moved to America from Grand Charmont, France in 1836. The Goll family descendants loved the big trees and guarded the woods against of timber operators for several generations. The State of Ohio began the nature preserve in 1969.
The nature preserve features gigantic 200-400 year old-growth forest that often measure 4 feet in diameter, reminiscent of the Great Black Swamp. There is a small area that preserves the rare ecosystem of Oak Openings, which consists very large specimens of white and bur oaks, but without any of the small under story trees. The Indians of the area created an open savanna to facilitate their hunting by keeping the brush and small trees down, by burning in the fall. The first settlers could easily drive their wagons in any direction through the sparsely spaced trees.
The preserve is composed of Elm-Ash-Maple swamp forest and mesophytic forest with many oak trees in the lower elevations. Because of drainage efforts for agriculture, the woods is transitioning slowly to Beech-Maple forest. In 2006, one of the largest burr oak trees, over 450 years old, died of old age. It had a DBH (diameter at breast height) of 56 inches and stood 112 feet tall.
Early in the year, over 40 species of ephemeral spring wildflowers including large flowered trillium, Ohio's state wildflower, bloodroot, columbine, marsh marigold, spotted coral-root and three-birds-orchid are in bloom.
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