Northwest Ohio Park Guide

Do you love parks and want to see all of the local Metroparks that our area has to offer? Check out the wonderful parks in Northwest Ohio below!

Beautiful park alongside the Maumee River. Has Lounge chairs, sitting swings, and a short walking path that you can walk alongside the river to see the Perrysburg monument. Beware that parking is not available at this park, you will have to park along a side street or up the street.

This 44-acre preserve offers hiking trails and boardwalks through various natural areas including wetland, remnant swamp woods, and native prairie. The pond offers family fishing opportunities. Opened in 2005, the Nature Center at the preserve offers various educational opportunities including a Lookout on Nature Area (LOONA), perfect for bird watching. While at the preserve, visit the Nature Playscape, the pollinator gardens, and the recycled bottle house. Mondays during summer there is Paddle the Pond, a free program that teaches paddle sport safety. All equipment, life jackets, and instructions are provided. The Nature Center facility also includes the Hankison Great Room event space.

Infused with tradition and history, Side Cut is one of a series of riverfront parks. The flat rocks that extend into the river between Maumee and Waterville are known as the Maumee River Ledges, a rare form of a little-known habitat called an alvar, found in only a handful of places on the Great Lakes. Activities and attractions within Side Cut include river and canal access, a sledding hill, playground, indoor and picnic shelters, and wildlife feeding stations with indoor viewing areas called Windows on Wildlife.

A pleasant 1.5 mile Northwest Territory Trail loops through a wooded area and over a ravine where the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers took place. Along the way, you will encounter interpretive areas providing information about the conflict. A planned visitor center is opened with interpretive displays. Along the way, visitors will encounter interpretive areas providing information about various aspects of the battle. The battlefield may be accessed in Maumee at the intersection of US23/I-475 and US24 (Anthony Wayne Trail). A parking lot and visitors center is located on Jerome Road.

This impressive monument to the important battle is across the Anthony Wayne Trail from the actual battlefield. A bike/pedestrian bridge connects the two sites. Owned by Ohio History Connection, the monument is situated on a bluff overlooking Side Cut Metropark and the beautiful Maumee River.

Maybe half the fun of Bend View Metropark is getting there. The park entrance is on the Anthony Wayne Trail, but it is also accessible by hiking 2.2 miles from Farnsworth or about six miles from Providence on the Towpath Trail. It’s definitely worth the walk for what is often described as the best view along the Maumee.

The Towpath Trail follows the remains of the Miami and Erie Canals along the old Towpath where mules towed flat-bottom boats along the waterway. The trail is also part of the Buckeye Trail, one of the most significant long-distance walking trails in the state.

Amenities and features at Farnsworth include indoor and picnic shelter rental, fishing, overnight camping (see Camping page) and historical WPA buildings and bridges. Also, You may love the playground as much as your kids!

Portions now open! Blue Creek is a quiet country retreat where visitors can walk a looped trail through a wetland and around a quarry pond, drop a fishing line or launch a kayak at a larger quarry.

The trail begins near an old hog barn on Schadel Road. On Providence Road (behind the Whitehouse village offices), the former Nona France quarry is also open for kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or fishing from shore or small boats. Both areas are open for daily use, 7 a.m. until dark.

Located on the edge of the Oak Openings region, Blue Creek was the site of limestone quarries in the mid- to late-1800s. In 1917, the city of Toledo bought the land to build a prison farm.

The property features glacial grooves, a pond, a wetland, and an oak savanna. A focal point is a 20,873-square-foot barn with a gambrel roof and plank frame built in the late 1920s. The barn and other outbuildings were part of the Toledo House of Corrections, also known as “The Workhouse,” a jail where the inmates tended to the farm.

Toledo’s only public archery range and 3D archery course. Bring your own equipment during normal operating hours, or you can attend special training programs offered through Metroparks, generally by reservation. See the Outdoor Skills programs listed at MetroparksPrograms.com for upcoming programs. Westwinds is also home to the Flying Tigers Model RC Club, and its members can often be seen flying their remote-control aircraft from the airstrip that they maintain. There is a shelter that can be reserved and a walking trail.

At Providence, you can get a sense of what canal travel was like during a trip aboard an authentic, mule-drawn canal boat on an original section of the Miami and Erie Canal. Attractions and features include the canal experience complete with the authentic canal boat and historic mill, fishing, an aerial view of Providence Dam, indoor and picnic shelter rentals, a playground and historic WPA buildings and bridges. 

Oak Openings Preserve is about 5,000 acres. It has an amazing playground for the kids and is a birder’s paradise. Aside from all of the paved/unpaved running trails, Oak Openings is home to beautiful sand dunes.

A museum for plants, Toledo Botanical Garden offers visitors the opportunity to share, discover and enjoy nature’s beauty. With more than 60 acres of display gardens and relevant plant collections, TBG is full of beauty, tranquillity, and opportunities for exploration and reflection. Also, experience a new, multi-level children’s discovery treehouse area at Toledo Botanical Garden. The Secret Forest connects kids with the Garden and nature in fun ways that will keep them active outdoors.

Additional Parking can be found at the Bancroft entrance: 5434 W. Bancroft Toledo, Ohio 43615

Swan Creek spans 441 acres and an additional 154 acres along the Swan Creek Corridor. Activities and attractions include scenic overlooks along the trails, a swinging bridge, indoor and picnic shelters, a playground and wildlife feedings stations with indoor viewing areas, called Windows on Wildlife.

Middlegrounds, located in downtown Toledo, includes a half-mile of river frontage that begins at the Anthony Wayne Bridge and extends southwest of Martin Luther King Plaza. The urban, 28-acre greenspace offers a 1.5-mile meandering walk/bike path and tranquil views of the Maumee River. At the present time, there are no kayak rentals available at Middlegrounds.

The amenities include large picnic areas, playing fields, indoor meeting rooms, and picnic shelters, and wildlife feedings stations with indoor viewing areas, called Windows on Wildlife.

The natural beauty and man-made elegance come together as one at Wildwood Preserve, the most visited of the Metroparks. The 493-acre park is the former estate of Toledo’s Stranahan family. Surrounded by natural habit, the stately home, now called the Manor House, played important roles in Toledo—and the park district’s—history.

The Motter Metro Park was acquired in two parcels in 2006 and 2009. The open meadow parkland has been planted in prairie grasses and will restore grassland habitat that is in short supply in Allen and surrounding counties. The Little Riley Creek runs through the park, providing critical habitat for wetland and water species of plants and animals. A wildlife observation deck, wetland mitigation project, and environmental education panels are planned for the future as money becomes available.

The oldest of the Wood County Parks, Otsego Park was established in 1937.  On the Maumee River, the 21-acre park includes 10 acres of islands.  It is home to playgrounds, a river walk trail, boat launch, and the Thompson Stone Hall formerly known as Otsego Stone Hall.

Oakwoods Nature Preserve is a 227.5-acre outdoor complex that contains diverse habitat, nature trails, and two lakes—all anchored by the Richard S. “Doc” Phillips Discovery Center. Wetlands, woodlands, and prairie create a place for discovery and form a natural attraction full of seasonal beauty that supports wildlife, environmental education, and nature-based outdoor recreation.

Riverbend Recreation Area was the Hancock Park District’s first park, which opened in 1976 for America’s Bicentennial celebration. Once a Native American camp along the “big bend” of the Blanchard, the 129-acre park remains a unique habitat for wildlife. Visitors can birdwatch and take photographs as they enjoy a wide range of year-round outdoor recreation opportunities and experiences. Ample open space is available for yard games. A multi-use loop trail and nature trails weave through clearings and tree canopy, perfect for quiet dreaming and restful solitude for every season.

Ottawa Metro Park provides many different outdoor recreation opportunities for your enjoyment of 287.3 acres. Visitors can spend the day fishing & boating on the 89 acres Lima Lake reservoir and swimming at Ottawa Metro Park beach. Enjoy a picnic or stay overnight at the campground.  (NOTE: There is a fee for swimming. It is $5.00 for ages 13 and older, $3.00 for children ages 3-12. It is free for kids two and under. These prices will cover the full day of swimming.)