Geauga County Parks & Nature Preserves

The following list of parks and preserves includes those managed by federal, state, county, and non-governmental agencies (such as the National Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, various historical societies, etc.).

We have tried to collect information on the activities and facilities available at various parks, but things may change without us knowing about it. So please double-check the information at the official site.


Auburn Marsh (State Wildlife Area)
Bass Lake Preserve (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Location:
    • 11445 Lakeview Rd, Chardon, Ohio 44024
    • GPS coordinates: 41.55015, -81.229005
    • View on Google Maps
  • Area:
    • 606 acres in all
    • 160 acres lake
  • No trails
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Good site for bird watching
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
  • Miscellaneous info: A restricted number of boats are allowed out each day (get a boating permit). The Spring Brook Sanctuary (a state nature preserve) is contained within this county park; it helps to protect the state’s last known indigenous population of brook trout.
Beartown Lakes Reservation (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 18870 Quinn Road, Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44023
    • GPS coordinates: 41.355172, -81.2963037
    • View on Google Maps
  • Area:
    • 149 acres in all
    • 22 acres of open water
  • Trail information:
    • 1.3 miles of hiking / cross-country skiing trails
    • 1.5 miles of hiking / cross-country skiing / bridle trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Sledding
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
Bessie Benner Metzenbaum Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 7940 Cedar Road, Chesterland, Ohio 44026
    • GPS coordinates: 41.50787, -81.357097
    • View on Google Maps
  • 65 acres in all
  • Trail information:
    • 0.5 miles of hiking / cross-country skiing / ADA accessible trails
    • 0.5 miles of hiking trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
    • Observation deck
    • Boardwalk
  • Miscellaneous info: There is a sandstone knoll that rises 140 feet above Griswold Creek, as wells a rock outcroppings. Most of the park is forested, though there is a meadow and old orchard at the foot of a hill. Two conifer plantations are present. There are spring wildflowers, and a boardwalk through wetlands that feature a beaver dam.
Big Creek Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Park Map
  • Location #1:
    • 9160 Robinson Road, Chardon, Ohio 44024
    • GPS coordinates: 41.620712, -81.200897
    • View on Google Maps
  • Location #2:
    • 9373 Ravenna Road, Chardon, Ohio 44024
  • 642 acres in all
  • 6.4 miles of trails (not including the Buckeye Trail)
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Camping
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
    • Part of the Buckeye Trail passes through the area
  • Miscellaneous info: The park features mature forest, hemlock-lined ravines, exposed bedrock, and a terrain sculpted by glacial deposits. There is a butterfly garden, and numerous species of songbirds migrate to this area to nest.
Burton Wetlands (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • State Nature Preserve
  • Trail Map
  • Posts at TrekOhio
  • Location:
    • 15681 Old Rider Road, Burton, Ohio 44021
    • GPS coordinates: 41.442686, -81.180962
    • View on Google Maps
  • 305 acres in all
  • 1.52 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
  • Prohibited activities:
    • Dogs not permitted
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
  • Miscellaneous info: The preserve features views of rolling glacial topography, large meadows, forest, beaver pond, and kettle holes (lakes and ponds formed during the last Ice Age). | As to dogs, the state nature preserve web page says that dogs are prohibited. However, the county web page says that they are permitted.
Chickagami Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 17957 Tavern Road (Route 168), Parkman, Ohio 44021
    • GPS coordinates: 41.3816595, -81.0755205
    • View on Google Maps
  • 139 acres in all
  • 1.62 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Camping
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
Eldon Russell Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 16315 Rapids Road, Burton, Ohio 44021
    • GPS coordinates: 41.424644, -81.164206
    • View on Google Maps
  • 132 acres in all
  • 0.76 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
    • Paddling
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Part of the Buckeye Trail passes through the area
  • Miscellaneous info: You can boat here; the terrain was shaped during the last Ice Age and features kames and kettles.
Frohring Meadows (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 16780 Savage Road, Bainbridge Twp., Ohio
    • GPS coordinates: 41.40685, -81.3556167
  • 298 acres in all
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
Hambden Orchard (State Wildlife Area)
  • Official Site
  • Wildlife Area Map
  • Location:
    • N. State Ave. & Claridon Troy Rd., Chardon, Ohio 44024
    • GPS coordinates: 41.584444, -81.121017
    • View on Google Maps
  • 842 acres in all
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Hunting
Headwaters Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location #1:
    • 13365 Old State Road (Route 608), Huntsburg, Ohio 44021
    • GPS coordinates: 41.5052333, -81.1017167
    • View on Google Maps
  • Location #2:
    • 15055 Mayfield Road (Rt. 322), Huntsburg, Ohio 44021
    • GPS coordinates: 41.529979, -81.1056336
    • View on Google Maps
  • 926 acres in all
  • Trail information:
    • 2 miles of the Buckeye Trail
    • 0.5 miles hiking / cross-country skiing
    • 0.8 miles of hiking trail
    • 1.4 miles of hiking and bridle trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Camping
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
    • Paddling
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Part of the Buckeye Trail passes through the area
  • Miscellaneous info: Boating
LaDue Public Hunting Area (State Wildlife Area)
  • Official Site
  • Wildlife Area Map
  • Location:
    • Ravenna Rd. & Bartholomew Rd., Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44023
    • GPS coordinates: 41.3658062, -81.2272102
    • View on Google Maps
  • 8,856 acres in all
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Hunting
    • Low-horsepower boating (depending on the park, this may mean boats with electric motors, boats whose motors do not exceed a specific horsepower, or boats with any horsepower motor as long as no wake is generated; check the official site for details)
Lucia S Nash Preserve (Nature Conservancy)
  • Official Site
  • Snow Lake:
    • GPS coordinates: 41.4257326, -81.1789091
    • View on Google Maps
  • 650 acres in all
  • Supported activities:
    • Good site for bird watching
  • Miscellaneous info: The preserve is not currently accessible to the public, but there are plans to open it to the public in 2019. | I have specified the location of Snow Lake, which is contained within the preserve, to give a general idea of where the preserve is.
Observatory Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Nassau Astronomical Station
  • Oberle Observatory
  • Location:
    • 10610 Clay Street, Montville, Ohio 44064
    • GPS coordinates: 41.585132, -81.080672
    • View on Google Maps
  • 1,100 acre in all
  • 3.97 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
    • Snowmobiling
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
    • Observatory
Orchard Hills Park (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 11340 Caves Road, Chesterland, Ohio 44026
    • GPS coordinates: 41.5052333, -81.1017167
    • View on Google Maps
  • 237 acres in all
  • 3.6 miles of hiking / cross-country skiing / mountain biking trails
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Sledding
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
  • Miscellaneous info: About a mile and a half of trail is ADA accessible.
Punderson (State Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Campground Map
  • Park Map
  • Lodge
  • Posts at TrekOhio
  • Location:
    • 11755 Kinsman Road, Newbury, Ohio 44065
    • GPS coordinates: 41.4510717, -81.2097123
    • View on Google Maps
  • 741 acres in all
  • Trail information:
    • 7.5 miles of hiking trails
    • 2.2 miles of multi-use trail (Cayuga Trail)
    • 3.45 miles of snowmobiling trails
    • 2.4 miles of cross-country skiing trails
    • 1.2 miles of dog-sled trail (Mushers Trail)
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Camping
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Sledding
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
    • Low-horsepower boating (depending on the park, this may mean boats with electric motors, boats whose motors do not exceed a specific horsepower, or boats with any horsepower motor as long as no wake is generated; check the official site for details)
    • Snowmobiling
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Archery range
    • Golf course
    • Disc golf course
    • Swimming beach
Spring Brook Sanctuary (State Nature Preserve)
  • Official Site
  • Facilities:
    • Permit only
  • Miscellaneous info: Contact Geauga Park District for information. The sanctuary is contained within Geauga county’s Bass Lake Preserve.
Sunnybrook Preserve (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 12474 Heath Road, Chesterland, Ohio 44026
    • GPS coordinates: 41.529937, -81.296738
    • View on Google Maps
  • 73 acres in all
  • 1.69 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
  • Miscellaneous info: Habitats include fen (with American cranberry bush), ravines, and rolling hills formed from glacial deposits.
Swine Creek Reservation (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 16004 Hayes Road, Middlefield, Ohio 44062
    • GPS coordinates: 41.4377, -81.0219
    • View on Google Maps
  • 412 acres in all
  • 6.1 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
  • Miscellaneous info: 0.4 miles of trails are ADA accessible
The Maple Highlands Trail (Bike Path)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 9280 Ravenna Road, Chardon, Ohio 44024
    • GPS coordinates: 41.6178172, -81.2323244
    • View on Google Maps
  • 21.1 miles of paved, multi-use trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
  • Miscellaneous info: Horseback riding is restricted to the South section. See trail map for details.
The Rookery (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 10110 Cedar Road, Munson, Ohio 44026
    • GPS coordinates: 41.499932, -81.278018
    • View on Google Maps
  • 562 acres in all
  • Trail information:
    • 0.4 miles of walking, handicap-accessible, and cross-country trail
    • 1 miles of walking / cross-country skiing trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
    • Observation deck
  • Miscellaneous info: Features a large colony of Great Blue Herons, but this is in an area that is not visible to the general public.
The West Woods (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 9465 Kinsman Road (Route 87), Russell, Ohio 44072
    • GPS coordinates: 41.458456, -81.307093
    • View on Google Maps
  • 902 acres in all
  • 6.95 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Camping
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Horseback riding
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
    • Nature center
    • Observation deck
  • Miscellaneous info: The park’s features include Ansel’s Cave, sandstone ledges, mature forests, extensive wetlands, and Silver Creek. | 0.4 miles of ADA accessible trails.
Thompson Ledges (Township Park)
  • Official Site
  • Posts at TrekOhio
  • Location:
    • 16755 Thompson Rd, Thompson, Ohio 44086
    • GPS coordinates: 41.6899776, -81.0462495
    • View on Google Maps
  • Miscellaneous info: This township park has both a recreational and a natural component. To go to the ledges region, enter the driveway for the park district office and use the parking lot to the rear.
Walter C Best Wildlife Preserve (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 11620 Ravenna Road, Chardon, Ohio 44024
    • GPS coordinates: 41.55625, -81.197167
    • View on Google Maps
  • 101 acres in all
  • 1.6 miles of hiking / cross-country skiing / ADA accessible trails
  • Supported activities:
    • Fishing
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities
    • Handicap accessible
White Pine Bog Forest (State Nature Preserve)
  • Official Site
  • 375 acres in all
  • Facilities:
    • Permit only
  • Miscellaneous info: Contact the Nature Conservancy for information
Whitlam Woods (County Park)
  • Official Site
  • Trail Map
  • Location:
    • 12500 Pearl Road, Chardon, Ohio 44024
    • GPS coordinates: 41.628117, -81.023633
    • View on Google Maps
  • 187 acres in all
  • 1.4 miles of total trail
  • Supported activities:
    • Cross-country skiing
    • Good site for bird watching
    • Bringing your dog
  • Facilities:
    • Restroom facilities

Last Update: Jul 3, 2018






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