This month, Summit Metro Parks will open a new nature center and its 15th park in Summit County.
Summit Metro Parks will open its 15th park and its first in Hudson on May 19. Two days later, the Liberty Park Nature Center will be open to the public after a brief ribbon cutting ceremony on May 21.
OUR 15th PARK: WOOD HOLLOW
Wood Hollow Metro Park, located at 2121 Barlow Road in Hudson, features the 1.2-mile Downy Loop Trail. At just over 300 acres, the park will include restrooms, an open-air shelter and play field. Some of the work is yet to come, so visitors can watch the park grow through the seasons.
In the coming months, Summit Metro Parks naturalists will offer guided hikes in the new park, and the 2015 Fall Hiking Spree will include its Downy Loop Trail.
Among the park’s beech-maple woods, wetlands and open areas, visitors may see and hear a variety of native species, including:
· Amphibians (American toads, spring peepers)
· Birds (blue jays, cardinals, and several hawks and woodpeckers)
· Insects (numerous dragonflies and damselflies)
· Mammals (eastern chipmunks; grey, fox and red squirrels; white-tailed deer)
· Reptiles (midland painted turtles)
LIBERTY PARK NATURE CENTER
North of Wood Hollow, the City of Twinsburg is home to the park district’s largest natural area: the 3,000-acre Liberty Park. The brand-new Liberty Park Nature Center will host naturalist-led programs and offer visitors a glimpse of past and present uses of the land through interpretive displays.
Not only do the displays honor the site’s natural and cultural history, they were designed to be accessible by visitors with disabilities. All indoor and outdoor displays, including a “cave” in the fabricated ledges, are wheelchair accessible, according to Interpretive Services Manager Christine Hockman.
“Exhibits with tactile and interactive features have a dual purpose — to engage all visitors and to enhance the experience for visitors with disabilities. Plus, the touchable exhibits can provide helpful sensory experiences for visitors with cognitive disabilities,” said Hockman.
Summit Metro Parks worked with Cleveland Sight Center staff, who shared ways to provide accommodations for visitors with low vision and blindness, Hockman explained.
The new .25-mile Maple Loop Trail, which passes by the nature center, is a 2015 Spree For All trail.
