Oak+Openings+Preserve+Wabash+Cannonball+Trail

Also, see Oak Openings Preserve Metropark and Wabash Cannonball Trail
 * =Birding in Ohio=

Lucas County
=Oak Openings= =Wabash Cannonball Trail= Swanton, Ohio 43558 Oak Openings Preserve Metropark webpage Oak Openings Preserve map Oak Openings Trails webpage Oak Openings Preserve recommended birding sites Wabash Cannonball Trail website Wabash Cannonball Trail map Wabash Cannonball Trail Oak Openings map

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Oak Openings--Wabash Cannonball Trail
Coordinates: 41.5563946, -83.8404572 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Tips for birding Oak Openings
From Lake Erie Birding Trail website From Ohio Ornithological society website From Oak Openings Metropark webpage

About Oak Openings
Located between Whitehouse and Swanton, Oak Openings Preserve takes its name from the surrounding region, which is 23 times larger than the park itself. That’s something to consider when you realize that Oak Openings Preserve is over 4,000 acres.

Pioneers trudging through a dense swamp called this area “Oak Openings.” Most of the park is an oak savanna ecosystem, characterized by alternating wetlands and vegetated dunes. The Nature Conservancy once named the sandy region one of the 200 “Last Great Places on Earth.”

Prickly-pear cactus, wild lupine and sand cherry bloom atop dry, hot sand dunes just yards away from orchids growing in low, wet swales. There are more than 50 miles of trails in Oak Openings Preserve. Stands of isolated pine and spruce planted by the WPA during the Great Depression are still visible.

Oak Openings is a birder's paradise. It is the nesting place of bluebirds, indigo buntings, whippoorwills, Lark sparrows, and many other species, as well as an excellent location to see migrating songbirds in the spring. From Oak Openings Preserve Metropark webpage

About the Wabash Cannonball Trail
The Wabash Cannonball Trail is a 63-mile multi-use recreational trail in Northwest Ohio. It provides non-motorized access to hikers, bikers, equestrians, and cross-country skiers. The 12-foot wide trail surface varies within the different jurisdictions, from asphalt to hard packed cinder ballast. The trail is a part of the nationwide movement to rejuvenate former railroad corridors into linear parks where people can enjoy the beauty and solitude of the outdoors while also providing a safe alternate mode of transportation between towns and villages along the route. There are more than 15,000 miles of rail-trails throughout the United States. View the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy website for more information about rail-trails. Portions of the Wabash Cannonball Trail have also been certified as segments of the North Country National Scenic Trail, a 4,600-mile long hiking trail connecting the Lewis and Clark Trail in western North Dakota with the Appalachian Trail in upstate New York. The Trail is administered by the National Park Service.

When Norfolk Southern Railroad announced the abandonment of service on this rail line in 1990, several local visionaries and enthusiasts gathered to share ideas about creating a public recreational trail and utility corridor. Their dream became a reality on March 24, 1994, when the corridor was purchased from Norfolk Southern. The Wabash Cannonball Trail is one of Ohio's longest rail-trails, covering a total of 63 miles and traversing four counties: Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Williams. The Trail is owned by several partners within the four counties. With the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) acting as coordinating partner for the project, the land-owning partners are Lucas County, the city of Maumee, Northwestern Ohio Rails-to-Trails Association, Inc. (NORTA), the Metropark District of the Toledo Area, the city of Wauseon, and the village of Whitehouse. The Trail is actually comprised of two rail lines that converge in Maumee at Jerome Road. The "North Fork" of the Trail runs in an east-west direction, 46 miles from Maumee to within 15 miles of the Indiana state line near Montpelier, Ohio. The "South Fork" takes a southwesterly route from Maumee to the edge of Liberty Center, Ohio for a length of 17 miles. The average width of the Trail corridor is 100 feet, with the width of the Trail surface being 10-12 feet. If you traverse the length of the Trail, you will cross over 13 bridges. The longest of these is the Tiffin River Bridge, at 210 feet in length. The Beaver Creek Bridge is the highest, at 38 feet above water level. When Trail development is fully completed, the Trail will be surfaced with finely crushed stone in the rural areas and asphalt through the more populated areas. In the interim, as the Trail is opened section by section, you may find the surface a bit rough in spots. Mountain and hybrid/cross bikes will have no problem traveling on all open sections of the Trail. From Wabash Cannonball Trail website

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|| L3615112 US US-OH US-OH-095 41.5563946 -83.8404572 Oak Openings--Wabash Cannonball Trail