![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Metroparks_Toledo_logo.png/300px-Metroparks_Toledo_logo.png)
Metroparks Toledo | |
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Clockwise from top: Wildwood Preserve Metropark's Manor House, the Toledo Botanical Garden, a canal boat and mule team at Providence Metropark, canal locks at Side Cut Metropark, wildlife in Pearson Metropark. | |
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]
Governance
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]
Metroparks
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 |
Land holdings
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]
Regional trails
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] |
References
- ^ a b "2015 Annual Report" (PDF). Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ a b "2021 Roots and Branches" (PDF). Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "2018 Annual Report". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "Rules and Regulations". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "2022 Budget and Annual Planning". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Explore Your Metroparks". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "The Men Who Built The Metroparks". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ a b "A Rich History". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "Oak Openings Preserve Highlights" (PDF). Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "Pearson Metropark". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Providence Metropark Highlights" (PDF). Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "Side Cut". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ Barnes, Melvin. "The Manor House". See Ohio First. Ohio Humanities. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Board and Minutes". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ "Contact Us". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Metroparks Toledo Agency Overview". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "Personnel Changes". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Howard Marsh Metropark, Designed by SmithGroupJJR, Opens in Toledo Area". globenewswire.com. SmithGroupJJR. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "The Toledo Botanical Garden". Touring Ohio. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ Reiter, Mark (12 January 2015). "Metroparks approves money for farmland". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Granger Island Cabin". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ a b "University/Parks Trail". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ The University of Toledo (January 5, 2000), University/Parks Trail, archived from the original on 2007-02-12, retrieved 2022-01-10
- ^ a b "Wabash Cannonball Trail". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Wabash Cannonball Trail". TrailLink. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Lucas County Auditor". co.lucas.oh.us. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Chessie Circle Trail". Metroparks Toledo. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Chessie Circle Trail". TrailLink. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
External links