Houses and pontoon boats line the canal leading from Buckeye Lake in Millersport, one of several communities along the shores of Buckeye Lake. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

I’ve posted about Buckeye Lake before. Recently I made a circle tour of the lake, starting at the village of Buckeye Lake and going counter-clockwise.

See “Historic Buckeye Lake’s best days may be ahead,” June 17, 2025.

It’s not actually possible to make an exact circuit of the lake on a single road. There are many turns and backtracks necessary, especially to stay on roads that are within sight of the lake.

And with that said, it’s nearly impossible to stay within sight of the lake while driving in a car. Lakeside homes are packed so tightly together in many places there is barely a few feet between them.

On the route are small villages, a state park, many lakeside homes and cottages, beaches, marinas, bars and restaurants. Buckeye Lake State Park has various locations on the lake — North Shore Park, Liebs Island and Fairfield Beach. Each offers restrooms, boating, fishing and swimming access. No camping is allowed in the state park areas but there are several private campgrounds nearby.

Buckeye Lake State Park’s North Shore Park area near the village of Buckeye Lake is the site of the old Buckeye Lake Amusement Park from the early to mid 1900s; the only remnant of the amusement park is a restored water fountain.

From Buckeye Lake village, I went to Liebs Island, another segment of Buckeye Lake State Park. I found it just about as I remembered when I took my son there fishing when he was a teenager (he’s in his mid-30s with five kids of his own now). He caught a saugeye at the boat dock but before I could snap a picture, the fish jumped off his hook.

Click on the video above to view the new video about Buckeye Lake. If it does not work, please use this link — https://youtu.be/DTO2BLD0ems

I looped around Liebs Island with its cottages and Fisher’s Marina, founded in 1912. Then I went into the village of Millersport, which dates back to 1825 as a canal port town. From there I took Canal Road past many quaint canalside homes, Buckeye Lake Marina and Weldon’s Ice Cream Factory (founded 1930). We’ve been to Weldon’s a number of times, and I would have liked to stop there but not this time.

From there I drove past the venerable Apostolic Campgrounds. I could not find much about the history of the campgrounds online but from the looks of it, the well-kept facilities date back to the 1940s or 1950s.

The first video wraps up as I’m leaving Millersport on the southwest corner of the lake. We’ll finish up in part two, with scenes of Fairfield Beach, Thornville, Thornport and the Harbor Hills area.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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