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Metroparks Toledo | |
---|---|
Type | Public park district |
Motto | Get Outside Yourself [1] |
Location | Lucas County, Ohio, United States |
Area | 12,700 acres (5,100 ha) [2] |
Created | 1928 [3] |
Operated by | Board of Park Commissioners of the Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area |
Visitors | 6 million (2021) [2] |
Open | Year-round, 7 a.m. until dark daily [4] |
Budget | $20.4 million (2022) [5] |
Website | metroparkstoledo.com |
Metroparks Toledo, officially the Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area, is a public park district consisting of parks, nature preserves, a botanical garden, trail network and historic battlefield in Lucas County, Ohio. [6]
Founded during the Great Depression and initially built using labor from federal New Deal programs, [7] [8] the present park district includes 12,700 acres (5,100 ha) across 19 metroparks and nearly 200 miles (320 km) of trails throughout the Toledo area. [6]
The largest park, Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, is a centerpiece of the Oak Openings Region and features ecologically significant oak savanna landscapes and globally rare plant communities. [9] Pearson Metropark contains one of the last remaining stands of the Great Black Swamp. [10]
The district includes historically and culturally significant sites, including the Fallen Timbers Battlefield, surviving Miami and Erie Canal infrastructure at Side Cut and Providence Metroparks, and a variety of shelters and buildings built by the federal Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. [11] [12] Wildwood Preserve Metropark features one of the last remaining public, free-admission gardens designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman at the former manor house estate of Champion spark plug magnate Robert Stranahan. [13]
Metroparks Toledo is governed by a five-member volunteer board of commissioners appointed by the Lucas County probate court judge. [14] The park district administrative offices are located at Wildwood Preserve Metropark. [15]
The system is funded by three tax levies, the state local government fund, grants and donations. [16] In 2022, the district employed 164 full-time and part-time employees. [17]
The district comprises 19 metroparks. [16] Two additional properties, Fort Miamis in Maumee and the Brookwood Area in Toledo, are part of the district, but are not defined as metroparks. [16]
Metropark | Acreage (Hectares) [16] | Location [16] | Year Est. [8] [18] [19] | Park Map |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bend View Metropark | 461 acres (187 ha) combined | Waterville | 1935 | map |
Farnsworth Metropark | Waterville | 1937 | ||
Providence Metropark | Providence Township | 1930 | ||
Blue Creek Metropark | 678 acres (274 ha) | Whitehouse and Waterville Township | 2000 | map |
Cannonball Prairie Metropark | 89 acres (36 ha) | Monclova Township | 2020 | map |
Fallen Timbers Battlefield Metropark | 204 acres (83 ha) | Maumee and Monclova Township | 2000 (land purchased); 2015 (battlefield opened) [1] | map |
Glass City Metropark | 66 acres (27 ha) | Toledo | 2020 | map |
Howard Marsh Metropark | 995 acres (403 ha) | Jerusalem Township | 2018 | map |
Manhattan Marsh Preserve Metropark | 57 acres (23 ha) | Toledo | 2020 | map |
Middlegrounds Metropark | 28 acres (11 ha) | Toledo | 2016 | map |
Oak Openings Preserve Metropark | 4,291 acres (1,737 ha) | Swanton Township | 1931 | map |
Pearson Metropark | 627 acres (254 ha) | Oregon | 1934 | map |
Secor Metropark | 837 acres (339 ha) | Richfield Township and Sylvania Township | 1949 | map |
Side Cut Metropark | 323 acres (131 ha) | Maumee | 1930 | map |
Swan Creek Preserve Metropark | 451 acres (183 ha) | Toledo | 1963 | map |
Toledo Botanical Garden | 60 acres (24 ha) | Toledo | 1964 | map |
Westwinds Metropark | 174 acres (70 ha) | Springfield Township | 2015 | map |
Wildwood Preserve Metropark | 493 acres (200 ha) | Sylvania Township | 1975 | map |
Wiregrass Lake Metropark | 51 acres (21 ha) | Spencer Township | 2015 | map |
Metroparks Toledo owns 167 acres (68 ha) of farmland in Toledo near Inverness Club for future development as a metropark. [16] Metroparks officials said the future park will be the "typical Metroparks experience" with meadows and a sledding hill. [20]
The district additionally owns approximately 1,900 acres (770 ha), called the Oak Openings Corridor, in western Lucas County and Swan Creek Township, Fulton County. [16]
Four Maumee River islands (Marengo, Audubon, Blue Grass and Granger) totaling 257 acres (104 ha) are owned by Metroparks Toledo. Granger Island features a private cabin available for rent. [21]
Metroparks Toledo manages all or portions of several paved, regional rail trails.
Trail | Length (one-way) | Location | Former railroad | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
University/Parks Trail | 7 miles (11 km) [22] | University of Toledo to Sylvania Township | Toledo, Angola and Western Railroad [23] | Owned by Lucas County and maintained by Metroparks, University of Toledo and City of Toledo. [22] |
Wabash Cannonball Trail - North Fork | 46 miles (74 km); about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) in Lucas County [24] | Maumee to Montpelier | Wabash Railroad [25] | Owned and managed in Lucas County by Metroparks. [26] |
Wabash Cannonball Trail - South Fork | 17 miles (27 km); about 10 miles (16 km) [24] in Lucas County | Maumee to Liberty Center | ||
Chessie Circle Trail | 11 miles (18 km) total; 1.4 miles (2.3 km) owned by Metroparks in South Toledo [27] | Perrysburg to Bowman Park, Toledo. | Toledo Terminal Railroad [28] |
Scouting in Indiana has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
Scouting in Ohio has a long history, from the 1908 to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
Maumee is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Maumee River, it is about 10 miles southwest of Toledo. The population was 14,286 at the 2010 census. Maumee was declared an All-America City by the National Civic League in June 2006.
Oregon is a city in Lucas County, Ohio. It is a lakefront suburb of Toledo, located on Lake Erie, just east of the city. Oregon is known for its scenic lakefront, bike trails, and Maumee Bay State Park. The population was 19,950 at the 2020 Census. There are also two refineries and the Bayshore Power Plant within the city.
Whitehouse is a village within the Toledo Metropolitan Area in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,149 at the 2010 census.
The Buckeye Trail is a 1,444-mile (2,324 km) hiking trail and long-distance trail that loops around the state of Ohio. Part of it is on roads and part is on wooded trail. Road portions of the trail are gradually being relocated to separate trail.
The Maumee River is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, where Fort Wayne, Indiana has developed, and meanders northeastwardly for 137 miles (220 km) through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the Maumee Bay of Lake Erie. The city of Toledo is located at the mouth of the Maumee. The Maumee was designated an Ohio State Scenic River on July 18, 1974. The Maumee watershed is Ohio’s breadbasket; it is two-thirds farmland, mostly corn and soybeans. It is the largest watershed of any of the rivers feeding the Great Lakes, and supplies five percent of Lake Erie’s water.
Dover Township is one of the twelve townships of Fulton County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 1,578 people in the township, and estimated a population of 1,570 for 2014.
The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks are a group of 19 metropolitan parks in and around Columbus, Ohio. They are officially organized into the Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District. The Metro Parks system was organized in 1945 under Ohio Revised Code Section 1545 as a separate political division of the state of Ohio. The Metro Parks are overseen by a Board of Park Commissioners consisting of three citizens appointed to three-year terms without compensation by the Judge of the Probate Court of Franklin County, Ohio. The Board in turn appoints an Executive Director responsible for operations and management of the parks.
Providence is a ghost town on the north side of the Maumee River in southern Providence Township, Lucas County, Ohio, United States, about 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Toledo. After suffering a destructive fire and a cholera epidemic in mid-19th century, the village was abandoned. In this period, canal traffic had also fallen off.
The University/Parks Trail is a rail trail in metropolitan area of Toledo, Ohio, United States. The trail is open to walkers, bikers, joggers and in-line skaters.
Wildwood Preserve Metropark is a nature reserve and historic estate located in Sylvania Township, Ohio. Wildwood is the most-visited of the 19-park Metroparks Toledo district.
Oak Openings Preserve Metropark is a nature preserve located in Swanton Township, Ohio, owned and operated by Metroparks Toledo. Most of the park is an oak savanna ecosystem, characterized by alternating wetland and vegetated dunes.
Farnsworth Metropark is a regional park in Waterville, Ohio, owned and operated by Metroparks Toledo. The long narrow parks sits on the western shore of the Maumee River with a view of several islands, including Missionary, Butler and Indian islands, all of which are owned by the State of Ohio.
Side Cut Metropark is a regional park in Maumee, Ohio, owned and managed by Metroparks Toledo and named for being a sidecut on the Miami and Erie Canal. The sidecut was built over an 18-year period in the nineteenth century and completed in 1842, opening to boat traffic the following year. It closed in 1850 after being bypassed by an extension of the main canal. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Toledo Botanical Garden is a botanical garden in Toledo, Ohio, owned and managed by Metroparks Toledo.
Mary Jane Thurston State Park is a 105-acre (42 ha) public recreation area one mile west of Grand Rapids in Wood and Henry counties, Ohio, United States. The state park lies along the south bank of the Maumee River near remains of the historic Miami and Erie Canal. It is named for Mary Jane Thurston, a schoolteacher from Grand Rapids who bequeathed land for the establishment of a park. The park's year-round recreation includes hunting, fishing, boating, picnicking, and camping.
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Toledo, Ohio.
The Wabash Cannonball Trail is a rail to trail conversion in northwestern Ohio, U.S. It is 63 miles (101 km) long. The North Fork of the Wabash Cannonball Trail is part of the North Coast Inland Trail, which plans to fully connect Indiana to Pennsylvania, and portions of the trail are included in the North Country National Scenic Trail.
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