Experience Kelleys Island

Kelleys Island is the largest U.S. Island in the western basin of Lake Erie and considered the Walleye Fishing Destination of the world. With a landmass of twenty-eight hundred acres and an eighteen-mile shoreline, the Island has a lot to offer. The Chamber of Commerce web site is a great guide to the Island.  It lists historical sites, other points of interest, restaurants, shops, special Island events and available lodging.

The North Pond Boardwalk is an exciting one-mile hiking trail through the North Pond State Nature Preserve, home to one of the last remaining lake embayment ponds in the Lake Erie Islands. The entrance to the preserve is located on Ward Road 400 feet west of the 4-H camp driveway.  The trail will take you down past an island ancient shoreline hiding in the forest, up to the top of the observation tower overlooking the pond, and out onto a stretch of sandy beach along Lake Erie.

A National Natural Landmark, the Glacial Grooves on the north side of Kelleys Island are the largest easily accessible such grooves in the world and are accessible daily in season, weather permitting From a walkway, footbridge and stairs you can look down on the immense grooves, which are 400 feet long, 35 feet wide and up to 10 feet deep, suggesting the tremendous power of the ice that formed them. They were scoured into solid Devonian period limestone bedrock about 18,000 years ago by the great ice sheet which covered part of North America.

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

The Kelleys Island Historical Association  was formed in 1980 with the primary objective of purchasing the Old Stone Church.​ Repairs and maintenance to the church have been ongoing. In June 2010, the Association opened the doors to its new Museum.

Monarch butterfly box is an 1800 square foot,  walk through greenhouse. The main feature of our exhibit is the  butterflies that flutter freely throughout the greenhouse, however there  are several things to see and do throughout your visit. 

Inscription Rock is a large limestone boulder on the southern shore of Kelleys Island. The rock takes its name from the many petroglyphs carved into its soft surface. These markings were made by Native American tribes that inhabited the island before European and American settlers arrived. 

Many of the natural features on Kelleys Island have been acquired by the State of Ohio and have been incorporated into Kelleys Island State Park.  This includes the North Pond Nature preserve, the East Quarry, the Glacial Grooves, and the North Shore Alvar State Nature Preserve.  The headquarters of the park is located ½ mile Northwest of the 4-H camp which includes a camping area, a boat ramp, a swimming area,  and a stone pier for fishing. The state park covers approximately 1/4 of Kelleys Island.

Kelleys Island Ferry offers the only daily auto/passenger ferry service to Kelleys Island with a short enjoyable 20 minute boat ride from Marblehead Ohio.