Oak Openings Metropark: Hike Reports

I originally posted these hike reports on the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo Group:

11/05/01

Re: What a Sunday!

What did I see this weekend? Fighter jets. I hiked a ten mile loop at Oak Openings west of Toledo. All of a sudden, I hear a big whoosh and two fully loaded fighter jets scream over at Cessna level. Crazy. Your mind starts to wander after that.

07/24/02

Re: Hike report: Munson Park, Monroe

--- In greatlakeshikes@y..., "Susan Falk" <sfalk@o...> wrote:> Toledo as in Ohio?>> Susan

Yup. BTW, the best long trail in Toledo is the 17 mile Trail at Oak Openings Metropark. There are over 100 miles of trail there, so you can pick several routes. The place has sand dunes, lakes and oak savannah - globally rare environment. There is a backpack campground, but it might only be for scout groups. There are a few private campgrounds in the neighborhood. The place also connects to the Maumee State Forest for additional trail miles. And the 40+ mile Wabash-Cannonball Trail bisects the park. Before Dave jumps in, I'll mention that the NCT is scheduled to pass through the park.

10/01/02

The NCT will pass through Oak Openings Preserve Metropark near Toledo. The trails already exist, but are unmarked as NCT. They have over 100 miles of pathway. There is a boy scout campground in the park for backpackers. That would be about an hour from you. I would recommend it, especially during hunting season. Hunting is banned there - and no bikes. The NCT passes east and west from the park for about 40 or 50 miles along a rail corridor.

02/24/03

Re: Oak Openings Preserve/NCT Trip Report

Nice to see the report on Oak Openings. You really should see it when there is no snow on the ground. The terrain is very much different than most area hiking. The Oak Savannah is very strange to see. The endangered Karner Blue Butterfly is native to the area. I read in the Toledo Blade that the park is hoping to purchase an additional 100 acres for the park from an old industrial park. And a trail link to Secor Metropark might potentially be in the long range plan. Of course, the Wabash Cannonball, which passes through, is 47 miles long and is not far from the towpaths in its southern areas. And the Maumee State Forest connects in the south. There are a couple of small waterfalls in the park.