The annual Fall Hiking Spree is the largest and longest-running event of its kind in the nation. Trails range from easy to challenging. Choose the trails best for you.
First-year hikers earn a hiking staff and shield. Veteran hikers earn the shield. Spree rewards are FREE to Summit County residents. Out-of-county residents pay to receive their hiking rewards ($10 for first-year hikers, $5 for veteran hikers).
1. Sign up below
2. Download your participant form
3. Complete at least eight designated trails (but only one Hiker's Choice) between September 1 and November 30 to receive rewards
4. Update your form as you hike your chosen trails
5. When you've completed a minimum of eight trails, drop off the form to receive your rewards (see form for locations)
Additional forms available at Acme Fresh Market stores in Summit County.
This summer marked 50 years of renewal since the Cuyahoga infamously caught fire in 1969. As a result of the environmental movement sparked by the fire, we now enjoy dramatically cleaner waterways. Celebrate by "Hiking the Cuyahoga"—nine of this year's 13 designated spree trails feature the river or its tributaries, allowing you to complete your spree hikes while honoring, exploring and discovering this exceptional river. ("Hiking the Cuyahoga" is optional—as always, any eight hikes from the list below can be completed to earn a 2019 Fall Hiking Spree shield.)
2.0 miles - Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 130 N. Main St., Munroe Falls 44262
Beginning at Brust Park, this paved roundtrip hike allows visitors to experience a particularly scenic section of the Cuyahoga River where a variety of wildlife can be observed, including great blue herons, Canada geese and several duck species.
1.8 miles – Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 1337 Merriman Rd., Akron 44313
This trail will take hikers out and back along the Cuyahoga River to its confluence with the Little Cuyahoga. At the turnaround point, visitors will enjoy views of the future Valley View Area of Cascade Valley Metro Park, where grant funding is allowing park staff to restore the historic barn, 200 acres of land and 5,000 feet of the Cuyahoga.
2.2 miles – Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 392 W. Wilbeth Rd., Akron 44301
Hikers will enjoy a roundtrip trek to Summit Lake, which feeds into the Cuyahoga River watershed and is a little-known member of the Portage Lakes. This trail will allow hikers to view construction work on the future Summit Lake Nature Center, a facility made possible through grant funding and which is expected to open to the public in 2020.
2.4 miles – Rating: 3 (Strenuous) Download Trail Map 837 Cuyahoga St., Akron 44313
This hike begins and ends at the Signal Tree, one of Akron’s most well-known landmarks. The trail travels alongside the river before making a steep climb and stairstep descent back to the river’s shores. Once there, visitors can sit on a bench to take in the view.
0.5 miles – Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 354 Sackett Ave., Akron 44313
Everyone will enjoy this flat, paved hike to the best view in town of the Cuyahoga River. The Overlook Deck is a half-mile roundtrip walk from the parking lot and offers a spectacular panoramic vista of an oxbow located 125 feet below.
1.4 miles – Rating: 2 (Moderate) Download Trail Map 5779 Riverview Rd., Peninsula 44264
This trail provides glimpses of the Cuyahoga River, Towpath Trail and Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, as well as a former stone quarry once owned by a founder of Quaker Oats. Named for what was once the deepest lock on the Ohio & Erie Canal, the park is a noted Important Bird Area (IBA) offering excellent wildlife viewing opportunities.
1.6 miles – Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 2620 Harrington Rd., Akron 44319
This trail loops past Little Turtle Pond, wetlands, the Tuscarawas River and the Tuscarawas Race.
1.4 miles – Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 4955 Townsend Rd., Richfield 44286
This trail travels near Furnace Run, one of the Cuyahoga's healthiest tributaries. Visitors will also enjoy hiking through beech-maple woods and viewing a marker describing the 1929 donation of the surrounding land to the park district.
1.4 miles - Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 550 Frazier Ave., Akron 44305
Hikers will enjoy walking through the woods to Alder Pond, where a newly renovated and accessible boardwalk travels through a cattail marsh.
1.8 miles – Rating: 2 (Moderate) Download Trail Map 1160 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls 44223
This moderately challenging hike features dramatic views of the Cuyahoga River and the gorge that gives this park its name. Located nearby is the Gorge Dam, one of the last remaining significant water quality impediments on the river today. Summit Metro Parks is working with a large group of partners to leverage federal funding to remove the dam.
2.1 Miles - Rating: 2 (Moderate) Download Trail Map 9999 Liberty Rd., Twinsburg 44087
Earn spree credit on the park district's newest trail! Along the trail's west rim, hikers can view evidence of several large uprooted trees that have left large depressions in the ground and huge root systems on display. Three freshwater springs are also visible in this section of the trail. The east rim of Black Bear Trail skirts Liberty Park's famous ledges, where picturesque sandstone is covered in a living skin of moss, ferns and lichens.
1.8 miles – Rating: 3 (Strenuous) Download Trail Map 2550 Martin Rd., Bath 44333
This challenging trail follows a path worn by white-tailed deer and provides scenic views of the Cuyahoga River Valley. It travels along Yellow Creek, one of the Cuyahoga River's healthiest tributaries.
2.0 miles – Rating: 1 (Easy) Download Trail Map 5000 Hametown Rd., Norton 44203
Hike Chippewa Trail to see mature trees grown from thousands of seedlings planted decades ago by Girl Scout troops.
Hike any Summit Metro Parks trail to earn spree credit. Only one Hiker's Choice trail hike will count.
Hike eight or more trails to receive hiking rewards!
Bring your completed form to one of these locations:
Administrative Offices 975 Treaty Line Rd., Akron 44313 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm 1828 Smith Rd., Akron 44313 Noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday Liberty Park Nature Center 9999 Liberty Rd., Twinsburg 44087 Noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday
Administrative Offices 975 Treaty Line Rd., Akron 44313 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm 1828 Smith Rd., Akron 44313 Noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday
Liberty Park Nature Center 9999 Liberty Rd., Twinsburg 44087 Noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday
Veteran hikers may mail their completed forms to the administrative offices, 975 Treaty Line Rd., Akron 44313. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Hiking shields are mailed flat.
Forms cannot be redeemed after March 31, 2020.
Is attaching the hiking spree shield more challenging than hiking the eight trails? Summit Metro Parks volunteers will gladly attach it for you at no charge from 1 to 3 p.m. on the following dates:
9999 Liberty Rd., Twinsburg Saturday, October 5
4955 Townsend Rd., Richfield Sunday, October 27
1828 Smith Rd., Akron Saturday, November 9 Saturday, November 16 Saturday, November 23 Saturday, November 30
2077 Newton St., Akron Sunday, December 8
Earn spree credit on naturalist-led hikes. For more details, click here or call 330-865-8065.
Please fill out the short form below to sign up for this event. You'll then be directed to download our participant form to use for your spree rewards.
We do not share your information with any third parties.
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