After some hot weather that kept us from hiking things cooled down enough for us to get into the woods. Since we’ve explored so many areas in Northern Indiana we decided to venture to Toledo, OH to check out Wildwood Preserve Metropark. What we found is a fabulous park with trails in the woods and along the Ottawa River as well as a manor and visitor center. Despite the nearly 2 hour drive we plan to return in the fall when the leaves start to turn.
Wildwood Preserve is one of the Toledo Metroparks which is a system of 19 parks in Lucas County, OH. The parks have natural spaces and offer a variety of recreational activities such as biking, hiking, and kayaking. The Wildwood Preserve Metropark is a 493 acre park on the former estate of the Stranahan family, whose patriarch founded Champion Spark Plug Company. It includes the Manor house, Metz Stables & Visitor Center, and miles of trails.
Our Adventure
We arrived at the park early in the morning and the parking lot was already full of cars. We saw people walking on a variety of trails so we parked near the stables and found our way onto the Blue/Floodplain trail. We followed it through the woods, across a boardwalk, and back into the woods. We had views of the buckeye, cottonwood, and sycamore trees as well as the Ottawa River. The trail was asphalt, wood boardwalk, and dirt.
Eventually we took a turn that led us further into the woods and onto the Purple/Prairie trail. We continued until we came to a sign indicating the Red/Upland Woods Trail. We turned left and followed the Upland Woods Trail back to the visitor center. After checking the trail map we got back on the Upland Woods Trail and found another way to get on the Blue/Floodplains Trail. We retraced our original path through the woods and across the boardwalk and eventually exited the woods near the parking lot.
We decided to explore some of the grounds and checked out the exterior of the Manor and the stables. By this time we had hiked 3.5M and were both tired and ready to head home.
Sunny’s Perspective
It was a long drive, but once we got out of the car I could not get into the woods fast enough. The smells at this place were amazing. We walked in the woods, across a board walk, and down by the water. There were quite a few people on the trails and even a few dogs. I liked everything about this place except for the long drive. We hiked all over and I spent a lot of time sniffing all the smells. What a great adventure!
Our Rating
Sunny and I give Wildwood Preserve Metropark 4 paws up. It really has everything we love – miles of trails in the woods, water that you can get down to, plentiful parking, and well-marked trails. Trails are accessible by bike, stroller, and on foot. We did run into some bugs and mosquitoes in the woods and would recommend bug spray if you plan to spend any time in the woods.
How Do I Get There?
From I-475 take exit #13 for US-20E/Central Avenue. Continue for 1M and then it turns into OH-120E/Central Avenue. Continue for about half an hour mile and then turn left at the Wildwood Preserve sign. Follow the road past a parking area on the right and continue to the large lot by the stables and manor. You can access any of the trails from this area. We recommend printing the trail map which can be found at Wildwood Preserve trail map. For additional information about the park and the trails check out the Toledo Metroparks website.