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.
Founded during the Great Depression and initially built using labor from federal New Deal programs, the present park district includes across 19 metroparks and nearly of trails throughout the Toledo area.
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. Pearson Metropark contains one of the last remaining stands of the Great Black Swamp.
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. 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.
Governance Metroparks Toledo is governed by a five-member volunteer board of commissioners appointed by the Lucas County probate court judge. The park district administrative offices are located at Wildwood Preserve Metropark.
The system is funded by three tax levies, the state local government fund, grants and donations. In 2022, the district employed 164 full-time and part-time employees.
Metroparks The district comprises 19 metroparks. Two additional properties, Fort Miamis in Maumee and the Brookwood Area in Toledo, are part of the district, but are not defined as metroparks.
+MetroparkAcreage (Hectares)LocationYear Est.Park MapBend View Metropark combinedWaterville1935mapFarnsworth MetroparkWaterville1937Providence MetroparkProvidence Township1930Blue Creek MetroparkWhitehouse and Waterville Township2000mapCannonball Prairie MetroparkMonclova Township2020mapFallen Timbers Battlefield MetroparkMaumee and Monclova Township2000 (land purchased); 2015 (battlefield opened)mapGlass City MetroparkToledo2020mapHoward Marsh MetroparkJerusalem Township2018mapManhattan Marsh Preserve MetroparkToledo2020mapMiddlegrounds MetroparkToledo2016mapOak Openings Preserve MetroparkSwanton Township1931mapPearson MetroparkOregon1934mapSecor MetroparkRichfield Township and Sylvania Township1949mapSide Cut MetroparkMaumee1930mapSwan Creek Preserve MetroparkToledo1963mapToledo Botanical GardenToledo1964mapWestwinds MetroparkSpringfield Township2015mapWildwood Preserve MetroparkSylvania Township1975mapWiregrass Lake MetroparkSpencer Township2015map
Land holdings Metroparks Toledo owns of farmland in Toledo near Inverness Club for future development as a metropark. Metroparks officials said the future park will be the "typical Metroparks experience" with meadows and a sledding hill.
The district additionally owns approximately , called the Oak Openings Corridor, in western Lucas County and Swan Creek Township, Fulton County.
Four Maumee River islands (Marengo, Audubon, Blue Grass and Granger) totaling are owned by Metroparks Toledo. Granger Island features a private cabin available for rent.
Regional trails Metroparks Toledo manages all or portions of several paved, regional rail trails. + Trail Length (one-way) LocationFormer railroadNotes University/Parks Trail University of Toledo to Sylvania TownshipToledo, Angola and Western RailroadOwned by Lucas County and maintained by Metroparks, University of Toledo and City of Toledo. Wabash Cannonball Trail - North Fork ; about in Lucas County Maumee to MontpelierWabash RailroadOwned and managed in Lucas County by Metroparks. Wabash Cannonball Trail - South Fork ; about in Lucas County Maumee to Liberty CenterChessie Circle Trail total; owned by Metroparks in South ToledoPerrysburg to Bowman Park, Toledo.Toledo Terminal Railroad
References
External links Metroparks Toledo