Tinkers Creek State Nature Preserve is a 786 acre preserve straddling the border of Portage and Summit counties. It features 2.2 miles of trails that provide scenic views of several ponds and wetlands.
From the parking area, a short trail (0.2 mile) leads by a pond and then continues on to an observation deck overlooking a wetland. This short trail is about a quarter mile long. From the observation deck we saw a tree with a large nest in the distance. The nest is an active eagle’s nest. The day we were there, one eagle was clearly visible sitting on a branch near the nest.
A second trail head is across the road from the parking area. This leads to the Seven Ponds Trail (1.2 miles loop) and the Lonesome Pond Trail (0.4 miles loop). The Seven Ponds trail is flat and parallels railroad tracks for a while and then passes through a wooded area. The Lonesome Pond Trail and South Point Trail are short side trails.
The ponds feature both open water and wetland areas. When we visited in early May, the most common wildflowers were violets and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.
We also saw a number of wetland creatures.
Additional information
- Tinkers Creek is located in both Portage and Summit counties. Check out either of these pages for links to the official site and for information on nearby parks and preserves.
Location
Address: 1230 Old Mill Rd, Aurora, Ohio 4420
Note: Tinker’s Creek State Park is located nearby the preserve and offers another 3.75 miles of trails.
More on Summit County
Deep Lock Quarry Metro Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Ledges Trail
F. A. Seiberling Nature Realm
Gorge Metro Park
I always have a soft spot for babies, loved the Canada Goose and her goslings. Wonderful scenery of the wetlands, my fave type of hiking grounds. Since the GBHeron is one of my top fave birds, loved seeing my first ‘Ohioan’ GBH! 🙂
What beautiful wetlands! And the lovely critters you captured… I’ve never seen a *northern* leopard frog, fantastic! (I have their southern cousin captured on my site, hee!) Just wonderful, all of it. 🙂
Looking at these amazing wonders of nature made my feet itch for a hike. 😉
You have some amazing places to hike where you live! And it’s such a great family activity. Our daughter is grown up and will soon be finished with her university education. It was fun rendezvousing with her so that we could do this hike together.
This blog earned a Bean’s Pat as blog of the day. Check it out at; http://patbean.wordpress.com
Thanks, Pat! 🙂
Well, I know what I’ll be doing this summer and fall. You both have lead the way. With all the good links and informative posts you have made it easy for us to follow in your footsteps. Some of these places, we have not been to for quite a while. I think it is time to hit the road.
Thank you, Patricia! We finished out May by visiting a lot of spots in northern Ohio that were completely new to us. We haven’t written up a post on the Oak Openings yet, but that place was amazing. If it wasn’t for this blog, I don’t think we would be exploring nearly so many new parks, but the blog has given us a little extra oomph to try new things.