Explore the outdoors at home By Doug Crabill Urbana and Champaign County is Southwest and Central Ohio’s Spring and Summer destination for outdoor exploration and activities! With its close proximity to the Columbus and Dayton metropolitan areas and being within an hour’s drive of these locales, Champaign County is a great place for a day or overnight trip to venture outdoors as the weather warms up. From caves, fishing, fly fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and camping to parks, bike trails, nature preserves, disc golf, and golf courses, Champaign County has something for every outdoor adventurer. Ohio’s Mad River is a popular brown trout fishery with the river being stocked yearly with over 12,000 brown trout by the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s fish hatcheries. In Champaign County, this river flows through the county with multiple access points, including a newly created, state owned access point near the intersection of State Route 296 and State Route 29, just north of Urbana.