Numerous Bigfoot sightings have been reported in the Portage County area since March 6. Several residents claim they caught a glimpse of the bipedal legend. 

In a Facebook post from March 9, the Bigfoot Society details the claims of sightings. 

“There have been five separate, high-credibility reports stretching from Mantua to Windham; we have received many of these directly,” it reads.

The post broke down each of the recent sightings, including a map of each location. The Bigfoot Society allows witnesses to remain anonymous to prevent trespassing on their property. 

In the Mantua Center report from March 6 at 12:23 p.m., a researcher from MTCR saw a “9-foot-tall brown male standing 120 yards away near SR 44.” According to the witness, the creature realized it was being watched and left the scene quickly. 

Bigfoot struck again on March 7 at 10:52 p.m. in the Mantua area. Witness Dylan Obney reported seeing “an 8-foot figure with long arms and dark brown hair.” 

Obney said the forest went silent before he heard “heavy, rhythmic footsteps and a deep, vibrating grunt.” He also located “oversized muddy footprints.”

At 10:20 a.m. on March 9, a hiker in Garrettsville saw “an 8-foot Sasquatch covered in black fur.” Startled, the witness left the area. 

At 11:47 a.m. on March 9, Jacob Taylor and another anonymous witness had a “15-second face-to-face encounter with a 10-foot black figure” on Headwaters Trail near Hankee Road. They observed the figure had a “‘stilt-like’ gait,” a “shoulder pivot” and a “strong musky odor.”

At 6 p.m. on March 9 in Windham, a resident who was a “long-time skeptic,” saw a “6-foot brown figure running with an impossibly long stride” at a dead-end “near the woodline.” 

The resident stated, “I know what I saw, but I don’t know what I saw.”

Sightings didn’t end there. Another Facebook post reports a sighting in Trumbull County on March 10, as what some might call “The Portage County Surge” moved west.

At a home in Newton Township near Newton Falls, a “massive black shadow” between 8 and 10 feet tall, “crashing through the brush,” was seen around 4 a.m. by a resident and their dog. The dog became aggressive and lunged toward the treeline, but once back inside, it began to shake with fear. 

The resident stated that the shadow was “way bigger than a bear.”

Another post from The Bigfoot Society reports a sighting out of Streetsboro. 

At around 8 p.m. on March 10, a mother and daughter spotted a “lean, 6.5-foot-tall brown figure” with a “blurred face” and “stilt-like” movement as they traveled west from Streetsboro to Hudson on Route 303. 

The witnesses say they came within 3 feet of the figure as it was walking into oncoming traffic, and that they “could have hit it.”

In an additional sighting on March 10, a resident was looking out her window at 10:30 a.m. and observed a 7-foot-tall reddish-brown creature with “muscular arms” and a “heavy frame” for about 30 seconds before it disappeared into the woods near a pond. 

As of March 11, there have been eight “high-credibility” reports, according to Facebook posts in the area. 

The online buzz around the sightings ranges from excited to speculative. Many commenters mention the lack of photo evidence to support the witnesses’ testimonies.

“I am talking to these witnesses over the phone and they are extremely shook up by what they have seen,” said Jeremiah Byron, member of the Bigfoot Society, in an email. “They did not ask to see this creature, which is why photos were not taken.”

Due to the quick and spontaneous nature of the sightings, witnesses were caught unprepared. 

“They just didn’t have cameras ready, and most sightings were only seconds in length,” Byron said. 

Bigfoot warning signs were placed at a few trailheads along Headwaters Trail after the sightings were reported, but were recently taken down. 

“The Park District has no knowledge of the activity or sightings of unusual beings on the Headwaters Trail, nor have we posted any Bigfoot signs,” said Portage Park District Executive Director Christine Craycroft.

Craycroft reminds visitors that the parks and trails are open from dawn to dusk, “and visitors should stay on the trail and respect adjacent private property.”

With the current movement of the sightings, Byron advises people to “keep an eye on large wooded areas around Ravenna.”

The unprecedented amount of reported sightings in a short period of time draws comparison to other Ohio activity like the Minerva Monster of the 1970s, Byron said. 

According to a 1978 legend, the Clayton family of Minerva was terrorized by a tall, 300-pound ammonia-smelling creature, which led to a slew of other sightings by neighbors.

The high number of recent Bigfoot sightings in the Portage County area is something that Byron has not witnessed before. 

“Our generation of Bigfooters have never lived through anything like this,” Byron said. 

Loreal Puleo is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].