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Daughmer Prairie Savannah State Nature Preserve

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A small remnant of the once vast Sandusky Plains that composed over 200,000 acres of tall grass prairie and oak savannah, covering parts of three present day Ohio counties (Crawford, Marion, Wyandot), Daughmer Prairie Savannah State Nature Preserve is the last 74-acre remnant of the Sandusky Plains. Located 9 miles SW of Bucyrus, Daughmer Prairie Savannah is considered the largest and best remnant left of the unplowed, deep soil prairies in North America that were present in the easternmost extension of the Ohio Prairie Peninsula prior to European settlement. 

As a deep soil savannah, Daughmer Prairie Savannah is considered to be one of the rarest prairie communities in the Midwest. It is a local natural history gem home to rare flora and fauna such as the state threatened Bicknell’s sedge, the potentially threatened wheat sedge, and flat stemmed spike-rush, as well as its namesake, the towering, majestic bur oaks that are over 200 years old. 

The efforts of five generations of Hazel (White) Daughmer’s family have kept the prairie habitat primarily intact and maintained through low intensity grazing and the occasional periodic prescribed burn. The Division of Natural Areas and Preserves purchased the site in 2010 with funds from the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves Tax Check-Off program. CPD maintains a management agreement with DNAP to ensure the proper management and use of Daughmer Prairie Savannah as a public State Nature Preserve.