Pleasant Hill Lake Park was not such a pleasant place early this summer when the lake rose 18 feet above normal and flooded out the entire park, including the campground area. The park’s biggest event of the summer, Christmas in July, had to be postponed until August.
Park Manager Bill Martin said the devastating weather brought the hardest and fastest flooding he’s ever seen, and Martin’s been there 15 years. “We had to reschedule a lot of people who were planning to camp to later in the season or even next year,” said Martin. “The cabins were available, but the lake wasn’t, so some people rescheduled the cabins as well.”
The entire park was shut down for three weeks, but August has everything back up and running. The water has gone down, the campground is now open and the big Christmas in July is now Christmas in August and will happen this weekend, August 3 and 4. “Anyone can come, even if they aren’t staying at the park. The cost is $8 per car on Saturday because of the fireworks and extra activities, and Sunday’s its only $5 per vehicle.”
Check them out on their Facebook page under Pleasant Hill Lake Park. Weekend activities and upcoming events are listed.
Patty Shannon, owner of Mohican Adventures in Loudonville, said their business was also adversely affected by all the rain. “If the water level is too high, no one can go out on the river,” she explained.
Mohican Adventures was shut down for several days in June and two weeks in July due to the Charles Mill Dam and Pleasant Hill Dam being backed up with too much water, running the Blackfork and Clearfork rivers dangerously high.
“Last year we had days where the river was closed because it was too low, and this year was just the opposite,” said Shannon. “But the area campgrounds, especially the ones out on Wally Road, they were hit the hardest. The high water brought in a lot of mud which meant a lot of clean-up work, so they were closed even longer.”
Mohican Adventures is back up and running with the river in the “green zone” for canoeing, kayaking and tubing. All other activities such as the GoCarts and mini-golf are also available. Check them out at www.MohicanAdventures.com
