Here’s where you can view the best in fall color
By Andy Avram, Interpretive Manager Lake Metroparks
While our lives may not have returned to normal, nature continues to carry on as it has done for eons. Mid-October is peak season to see our trees changing from their summer greens to their autumn yellows, reds and oranges. Fortunately, Lake Metroparks offers many parks for you to get out and view fall colors.
Here are some of our favorite hikes for leaf peeping:
• Chapin Forest Reservation
With a panoramic view of everything from Lake Erie to the Cleveland skyline, the view of fall colors is one of the best overlooks anywhere. Lucky Stone Loop Trail begins at the Ledges picnic area and takes you to the highest elevations in the park. Enter from Hobart Road and access Arbor Lane Loop Trail from the parking lot. Hike this gravel trail until it intersects with Lucky Stone Loop and hike to the overlook.
• Indian Point Park
Enter from the upper parking lot on Seeley Road and hike along Point Overlook Loop Trail. Lookout Ridge Scenic Trail will provide a spectacular view over the Grand River valley and the hillsides will be alive with colorful leaves.
• Girdled Road Reservation
Stroll Skok Meadow Loop Trail to the scenic overlook and deck. A meadow of 30 acres of native wildflowers unfolds before you with many flowers blooming through late summer and into the fall. Enjoy this peaceful view with the backdrop of trees lining the Big Creek valley.
• Hell Hollow Wilderness Area
Walk Beech Ridge Loop Trail to a stunningly unique overlook of the Paine Creek valley, more than 200 feet below.
• Hidden Lake
Taking the Hidden Lake Loop Trail will provide the perfect autumn scene with a peaceful lake backed by fall colors.
Lake Metroparks provides more than 3.5 million visitors with countless recreational and educational experiences at diverse facilities including an agriculturally themed park, a nature center, an education and wildlife rehabilitation center, two golf courses, more than 60 miles of trails, six parks on Lake Erie’s shoreline and a cross-country ski center. Visit LakeMetroparks.com for more information.