One of Toledo’s largest Metro Parks is Oak Openings, which is located at:
4139 Girdham Rd. (2 miles west of the Toledo Express Airport) Swanton Ohio
Oak Openings Park contains approximately 3743 acres of very diverse landscapes, making the part a naturalist’s paradise consisting of sand dunes, which hosts plant life such as wild lupines, prickly pear cactus, and sand cherries. Other various life often seen in the dune area are the Lark and field sparrows, (sometimes a prairie warbler), Karner blue butterflies, and badgers, while several yards away, the landscape changes into wet swampy areas containing low growing orchids.
Other diverse landscapes include:
Oak Savannas: The savannas contain a sparse amount of oak trees, with only about 20 trees per acre, which allows for much sunlight, giving the area the name of “oak openings” The vast sunlight in the areas allows for a great diversity in plant life, and species such as found in the prairies, birds such as the red headed woodpeckers, red tailed hawks, and summer tanagers often frequent the area. To keep the savanna’s open occasional fires are needed to control the amount of various trees and plants that block the floor plants (low growing plants) from receiving light.
Oak Woodlands: The oak wood lands contain more than 20 oak trees per acre, yet the branches nor do the trees touch each other, creating a display of light and shadows. Plant life consists of witch hazel, service berries, wild geranium, Dutchman’s Breeches, and winter green. Bird species such as Cooper’s Hawk, scarlet tanagers and wild turkeys have made their homes in the area.
Pin Oak Flatwoods: The area consists of pin oaks, and can either be very sparse, containing few trees or so dense the crowns of the oaks touch. The Flatwoods are seasonally flooded with water and contains a diversity of plant life. This plant life includes such species as spicebush, winterberry, cord grass, blue flag iris, and buttonbush, and is home to the wood duck, red shoulder hawk, woodcock, and both the crested and alder flycatcher.
Prairieland, Tall Grass: The tall Grass Prairieland consists of grasses, such as the big and little blue stem, Indian grass and June grass. These grasses range fro 3-6 feet in height. Other species of plant life include the western sunflower, blazing stars, dotted horsemint, asters, round headed bush clover and the black-eyed Susan. The prairieland is often burnt through a controlled fire to keep the land from becoming an eroded field. The bird species found in this area are the lark sparrow and the eastern blue bird.
Prairieland, Wet: The wet prairie remains flooded from winter until late summer, and is also burnt by a controlled fire to keep woody plants and trees from taking over the area. The plant life consists of grasses, rushes, sedge, cardinal flower, blue lobelia, bladderwort, and the prairie rattlesnake root. The birds that inhabit the area are Wilson’s snipe, sora, and the swamp sparrow.
Speaking about plant species, Oak Openings is host to 49 endangered species of plants including the dotted horsemint that was thought to be extinct in the state of Ohio. Furthermore the park is home to at least 136 species of nesting birds and is also home to the only breeding population of the Lark sparrow in the entire state of Ohio.
Other types of wildlife in the park which many not be often seen are the white footed mice, white tailed deer, red fox, rabbit, meadow vole, great horned owl, and the hog nosed snake. However, according to the Oak Openings website, if you’re willing to face the cold, quite often you may catch a glimpse of these animals during winter, because of the lack of vegetative growth and cover.
Things to do:
Hiking: Oak Openings Metro Park offers approximately 50 miles of trails for the adventurous hiker. The Ridge Trail (2.5 miles) is just one of the many trails of Oak Openings. The trail begins at the Buehner Center and Mallard Lake as most of the trails do. This trail winds through various diverse lands such as sandy dunes, savanna, and swamp forest. Another trail of interest and the longest is the Scout Trail. The Scout Trail begins also at the Buehner Center and Mallard Lake and is exactly 15.5 miles long. The approximate length of time to travel this trail is 6-8 hours.
Horse Back Riding: Oak Openings has a special area for the avid horse lover. The Horse Rider Center is located on Jeffers Road. This area had ample parking space for horse trailers, a picnic shelter with grills, restrooms and hitching posts. The trail available for horse back travel is 14 miles long and travels through very diverse scenic areas.
Fishing: Oak Openings has two areas for fishing, Evergreen Lake, and Mallard Lake. Licenses are needed for those over 16.
Picnic Areas: Springbrook Lake, Evergreen Lake, Mallard Lake, White Oak, and Horse Rider Center. All the picnic areas are equipped with restrooms.
Mallard Lake Area: Buehner Center, an interactive nature center is located at Mallard Lake; also located at Mallard Lake are telephones, vending machines, Windows on Wildlife, and Metro Park Information Center.
Playgrounds: Playgrounds are located at White Oaks, and Mallard Lake.
Cross Country Skiing: Many of the trails throughout the park are open for cross country skiing during winter.
