Fall in the Metroparks

The leaves on the trees are red and yellow against the blue sky and the air is crisp but the sun warms the face. You’re wearing warm clothes, but as you walk, you feel like you don’t need them. You could be alone and in contemplation or with your partner having one of those easy stream-of-consciousness conversations or with your extended family, the voices and footsteps sometimes harmonious but at times fragmented. It might be an impromptu idea or it might be a well-planned picnic event followed by a walk to work off the food. Fall feels like family time, reconnection time, contemplation time, and it’s time for a good walk.

All around us, from Bentleyville to Hinckley to Rocky River, the “Emerald Necklace” flows like a green oasis for weary travelers, a place where we can re-charge and become real again after running crazily through our busy lives. The Cleveland Metroparks, established in 1917, is one of our greatest joys and a huge asset for the Greater Cleveland area. The vision of those who wanted to provide open space for the people of Greater Cleveland and preserve the natural world continues today. The Park District now owns more than 21,000 acres in sixteen reservations within Cuyahoga County, plus some space in Hinckley Township in Medina County. We show our support for this park system: the Cleveland Metroparks is supported by an endowment fund and taxes.

Years ago our family established a Sunday walk routine and started visiting the Cleveland Metroparks reservations on foot. Along with the visible all-purpose trails along the motor thoroughways, there are many gravel paths and bridle trails throughout the park system that can be explored. We generally head to the Rocky River Reservation Nature Center in North Olmsted since it’s close to home. There, we can sit in rocking chairs and watch the birds at feeders outside large windows, examine river fish in aquariums, purchase a bird field guide at the EarthWords Nature shop, or learn about the history of the pioneers who lived in the Olmsted area. The Rocky River Nature Center is only one of five outdoor education facilities located throughout the park with activities and programs throughout the year.

The Rocky River Nature Center is surrounded by massive shale cliffs that rise above the cottonwoods and willows. Even in the fall, wildflowers grow along the trails, and right outside the Center are native plants and herbs, well-marked to identify them, and just down a path northeast of the Center is a wild flower garden where you can sit and listen and smell and feel at peace surrounded by the tall trees. Behind the Nature Center, a trail crosses wetlands waterfowl and beaver call home before entering deep forests past an outdoor amphitheater. At a Y on the trail, we choose the left fork to cross over more boggy areas to a platform overlooking reeds where turtles and frogs hide. In the fall, leaves are underfoot and the woods smell of them. We walk past a line of birches which we imagine settlers planted in a straight line alongside the house before coming again to the main path. Deciding to avoid the all-purpose trail and traffic coming down Cedar Point Hill, we head back to our original path but take a right turn to the western trail where one can head up the many stairs leading to the high point above the valley and look across the Valley. Indian relics have been found at the top of the hill.

The Rocky River Reservation extends from the Marina at the mouth of the Rocky River right before it flows into Lake Erie to the entrance of Mill Stream Reservation at Bagley Road in Berea. Along the drive, near Mastick Woods picnic area in Fairview Park, is one of the Park’s Solar System walks—illustrated boards show the distance between the sun and planets in our solar system. Another Solar System walk can be found near the Welsh Woods Picnic Area in Euclid Creek Reservation.

Another of our favorite walks starts at the Emerald Necklace Marina, where we can walk past docked boats, then along the fishing wall and head south on the All-Purpose Trail that crosses the River, and continues south close to the river along tree-lined paths that are sometimes up and down. We pass baseball fields in open areas, then nature closes in before opening again for Little Met Golf Course.

One of my most treasured Girl Scout leader memories is the time I took the troop to the Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration. The girls were allowed to slide needles through a quilt being made, sample honey, and play with wooden toys just like their ancestors did. This year the free event happens on September 23 from 11 until 6 with folk music, crafts, food, storytelling, rug weaving, and chair caning going on. The event is held at Frostville Museum, the 19th century village maintained by the Olmsted Historical Society. The latest building added to the Museum is the church, which was at the corner of Lorain and Barton Roads and was slowly moved down into the Rocky River Valley on Cedar Hill Road and reconstructed.

If you missed that event, FallFest: 18th Century Festival takes place on September 30 at Meadows Picnic Area in Brecksville Reservation. We ran across this party in the park while on one of our Sunday walks a few years ago—we couldn’t resist searching for the cannons being shot off at the re-enactment and an encampment of the “Brigade of the American Revolution.” Like the Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration, there are opportunities to experience colonial life, including candle dipping, stenciling, clay thumb pots, wool dying, and apple head dolls. Samples of cider, popcorn, and cornbread can be enjoyed.

Mill Stream Run Reservation begins in Berea and meanders through Middleburg Heights, North Royalton, and Strongsville along the east branch of the Rocky River. Historically, 19th century communities such as Slab Hollow and Albion ran mills, taverns, and basket shops. Sandstone quarries existed where Wallace Lake and Baldwin Lake now serve as modern-day swimming holes. We like to climb the lookout above the wetlands across from Wallace Lake and see the ducks and herons whiz past, low above the tall golden grasses, before splashing into open water. Further down the all-purpose trail, meadowlands open up and we find ourselves in the sun. South of Berea, in Strongsville, Fall Hayrides and square dancing take place on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons in October at the Chalet where toboggan runs are popular in the winter months.

Other upcoming Metroparks events in October include the Wood Duck Festival on October 7th at North Chagrin Nature Center, where you can talk to wood carvers and see their artwork, marvel at nature photography, and give the kids a chance to build a wood duck. The Youth Outdoor Odyssey along the Ohio & Erie Canal on October 13 will allow the children to fish or golf, discover things about nature, or learn to repair a bicycle. During the weekend of October 13, the “Reflections of Nature” Quilt Show will take place at the Rocky River Nature Center. In recognition of Halloween and an attempt to entertain youth, the Olmsted Historical Society presents the return of the Brigg’s Haunted Barn, “featuring Terror Xtreme,” at Frostville during October weekends.

If a good walk is not in your plans, the Metroparks is celebrating its 90th birthday with a “Parkways to the Past” driving tour. The tour highlights eight historic sites in the Park District including a turn-of-the century castle, the summer estate of John Huntington on the shore of Lake Erie, the folk art carvings of Henry Church, and an old boating pond. The complete 100-mile tour begins at Squire’s Castle and ends at Huntington Reservation. You could stop and explore the various parklands along the way and break it up into several Sunday afternoon drives.

Find out more about the driving tour or other programming by checking out the monthly Cleveland Metroparks Emerald Necklace newsletter or clevelandmetroparks.com. At the website, you can also order trail maps, fishing guides, and brochures about golfing and other park activities.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Claudia J. Taller ctallerwritesATwowway.com

Photo by Brian Cassidy. Visit his flickr page here. (:divend:)