The boardwalk at Maumee Bay State Park is one of my favorites in the state. When we are checking out various parks and preserves in the northwest corner of Ohio, we often stay at the lodge in Maumee Bay. And despite having hiked for much of day, about 40 to 45 minutes before dusk we will head out to the boardwalk for an evening stroll. More times than not, we will see wildlife not far from the boardwalk.
It looks like the fawn above is a little buck; you can just make out the beginning
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Because Maumee Bay State Park is the site of one of our state's lodge and conference centers, it offers a number of recreational opportunities. But as a nature lover, one of my favorite activities there was walking the 2-mile boardwalk through a wetland bordering Lake Erie. We visited in May while staying in the lodge. Our strolls along the boardwalk were relaxing and peaceful. They were also an opportunity to do some birdwatching and to see other wildlife like deer.
We began the boardwalk
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The Wildwood Preserve is a 493 acre park in the Toledo area. The total trail mileage in the park is about 9.4 miles. The trails include a couple of boardwalks, and one trail passes through a covered bridge. A few trails in the park feature unusually sandy soil because this area was once the shoreline of an ancient, glacial lake. The land making up the preserve formerly belonged to the Stranahan family (two brothers in this family founded the Champion Spark Plug Company in 1908). Park officials have
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The TrekOhio Challenge is over. Notifications have been sent to the winners. Thanks to all who participated!
We'd like to invite our readers to participate in the TrekOhio challenge. The challenge is to complete FIVE hikes during summer (June 21 - Sept 21) 2016 from the ANY of the parks and preserves listed below. The hikes are arranged by Ohio region for your convenience, but feel free to mix and match any five. We've provided links to TrekOhio articles to get more information about the hike.
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This is a list of Holiday Events taking place in December 2017 at various Ohio parks, zoos, and historic sites. Some events require that you register in advance, and many charge fees. Please see the links for additional information.
Central Ohio
Location
Event
Date
Description
Alum Creek State Park
Butch Bando's Fantasy of Lights
Now - Jan 1, 2018 ♦ Sun-Thurs 5:30-9:30pm; Fri-Sat 5:30-10:30pm
Drive through the campground and see a light show. There is a fee
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The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources now publishes information on all the Thanksgiving buffets that are held at its lodges; see Celebrate Thanksgiving at an Ohio State Park for up-to-date information.
Last updated: October 23, 2014.
If you'd rather make reservations than dinner for Thanksgiving, lodges at Ohio State Parks are serving Thanksgiving buffets. Several lodges have information available on their Thanksgiving Day dinners at their website or on Facebook. We've summarized these and linked
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Large mammals including deer and predators such as wolves and bear were wiped out in Ohio during the nineteenth century by hunting and deforestation. By 1904, there were no deer in Ohio. White-tailed deer were reintroduced to Ohio via a government stocking program in the 1920's and 1930's.
Since their re-introduction to Ohio, deer have been very successful. They are found in every county in Ohio, both deep in the state forests, in local parks, and suburban fields and groves. Today, the deer population
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Metzger Marsh is a 558 acre marsh bordered by Lake Erie, the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and a canal used by private watercraft. It is a site ideal for fishing and bird watching. It's located between Maumee Bay State Park and Magee Marsh Wildlife Area.
We ended a vacation day in northwest Ohio with a post dinner drive out to Metzger Marsh. From the entrance on Bono Road, we passed a parking lot and a boat launch. An access road - Metzger Marsh State Road, parallels the marsh
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I am an aspiring birder; actually, I seem to be perpetually stuck at the "beginning birder" level. I enjoy and recognize the birds that frequent my backyard feeding station. And when hiking, I enjoy listening to birdsong and calls... but I rarely catch sight of those singing birds. Most of the time they seem to be perched high above me and hidden by the tree's foliage. However in Ohio there is an annual birding event called, The Biggest Week in American Birding, and this year I decided to give it
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Interest in archery has soared since with the release of the movie The Hunger Games with its bow wielding heroine Katniss Everdeen. The archery competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics has also highlighted the sport. If you'd like to hone your bow and arrow skills without paying fees to use an archery range, consider making use one of the state's many public ranges.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Feist, license: CC BY 2.0
We recently visited a public archery range at the Delaware State Wildlife
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