Toledo Ohio's Pearson Metropark is a surprisingly serene place given its close proximity to urban Toledo and its location along a major highway (Ohio State Route 2) through town.
We'd caught glimpses of one of the park's walking trails many times as we headed into, or out of, this northern Ohio city, but it wasn't until late last year that we actually found time to pull off of the highway and head through the park's entrance off of Lallendorf Rd.
The park is actually part of one of the last remaining stands of the Great Black Swamp, which was one of the biggest obstacles for early Ohio settlers as they cleared the land for farming and homes.
A Black Swamp cabin from the 1800s sits on the park grounds, reminding visitors of the park's place in the development of early Ohio.
A number of other structures in the park like shelters, bridges, ponds and a garden with a waterfall harkens back to another era in Ohio history. Workers employed by the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps, who also drained the land to prepare it for park development, during the Great Depression of the 1930s built many of these structures.
Pearson takes its name from newspaper reporter George Pearson who began a campaign to help purchase and save the land as a park.
Today, even as commercial and residential development surrounds the park on all sides, it retains a lot of its natural attractions and wildlife.
Wildflowers like purple cress, trillium, wild ginger and wild geraniums reportedly abound in Pearson's woods during the spring, which is something I'm hoping to check out as the snow disappears in coming weeks and we can find some time to head out onto the trails with our cameras.
The woods and wildflowers, along with Pearson's location near Lake Erie, also make it a favorite stop for migrating birds and part of one of the most visited birding regions in the country.
The park is also part of the state's Wetlands Migration Bank, a project created by Ohio Wetlands Foundation to help create and preserve Ohio's remaining wetlands with strategic tree and shrubbery planting.
Pearson has one of the Metopark's indoor viewing areas (A Windows on Wildlife) that allow visitors to see and identify some of the wildlife the site attracts year round. This was especially nice to visit during the cold winter we just had as we could take our time watching a variety of birds visiting the park's bird-feeding station without freezing outdoors in the winter weather.
Pearson also has many other year-round recreational facilities that include a playground, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, tennis courts, fishing, ice skating and a sledding hill.
Pearson's pedal boat concession opens weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through Labor Day (charging a small fee per hour).
You can also rent picnic shelters or indoor rooms for community events at the park.
The park is part of a system of a dozen Metroparks and trails covering 9,000 acres in or near Toledo in northern Ohio.
The parks open daily at 7 a.m., and generally stay open until dark each day (with extended hours during special events or programs).
Best of all? Regular admission is free at the Metroparks of Toledo!
You can connect with Pearson Metropark on its Web site or via the Toledo Metroparks' Facebook page or You Tube channel.
Interested in learning more about WPA- and CCC-era structures in Toledo? Check out my story about the classic buildings at the Toledo Zoo, Historic architecture gives the zoo in Toledo, Ohio its distinctive look or check out the book Toledo: A History in Architecture 1914 to Century's End by William Speck.
© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved
Comments