Portage Lakes State Park in New Franklin, Ohio, is a public recreation area centered on a chain of eight interconnected lakes covering 2,034 acres. Known as one of Ohio’s notable lake-based recreation areas, it is defined less by a single compact tract than by the lakes themselves and their surrounding shorelines. Boating, fishing, and swimming have long been its primary uses, giving the park its identity as a water-focused outdoor destination. Its present administration began in 1949, when maintenance of the lakes shifted from the Ohio Department of Public Works to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Recreation.