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A long-range plan to connect the Metroparks and other natural areas in the Oak Openings Region of Western Lucas County with a multi-purpose trail is a step closer.
The first 1.9-mile section of the Moseley Trail is now open, connecting Secor Metropark in Berkey to Wiregrass Lake Metropark in Spencer Township. About 75 percent of the trail was paid for with a grant from the Clean Ohio Fund. The mostly 12-foot wide trail, connects the existing All Purpose Trail at Secor with the entrance to Wiregrass Lake. Ten-foot-wide sections of "boardwalk" made of concrete spans sensitive wetland areas.
The trail is mostly on Metroparks-owned land, much of it acquired since 2002. The exception is a short section along the right-of-way on Dorr Street.
The Secor-to-Wiregrass connection is the first leg of what will eventually be an approximately 13-mile trail extending to Oak Openings Preserve in Swanton. Oak Openings already connects with Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Side Cut Metroparks in Maumee via the north fork of the Wabash-Cannonball Trail.
Dave Zenk, executive director of Metroparks Toledo, said the project is an important step in the park district’s ongoing plans to “connect parks to parks, and people to parks.”
“We are getting very close to being able to say that no matter where you live in Lucas County, you are never more than 5 miles from a Metropark,” Zenk said. “The other part of that vision is that the parks will be connected with trails, adding even greater accessibility and value across the county.”
Long-range plans for the Moseley Trail would connect the Oak Openings Corridor, including a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Ohio Turnpike.
The Oak Openings is a globally rare, 130-square-mile region made up of a mixture of widely spaced oak forests, sand dunes, savannas, tall-grass prairies and swamp forests.
Since 2002, Metroparks Toledo and partner organizations have worked together to preserve and restore a corridor through the region for the benefit of wildlife, plants and people.
Secor on Central Avenue and Oak Openings Preserve on SR295 in Swanton bookend the Oak Opening Corridor, which includes three other Metroparks: Wiregrass Lake, opened in 2015 on N. Eber Road; Westwinds, opened in 2016 on Geiser Road; and a new park to be built this year between Monclova Road and the north fork of the Wabash Cannonball Trail. Also within the corridor are three state nature preserves: Lou Campbell, Irwin Prairies and Kitty Todd.
"The Oak Openings Corridor Trail embodies everything we envisioned when we embarked on this plan 16 years ago."
“My first involvement in Metroparks, at a leadership level, was when I co-chaired a campaign in 2002, when we proposed a land levy that would allow us to acquire substantially more parkland for the future,” said Scott Savage, president of the Board. “When the voters approved the levy two-to-one, we took that as a mandate. When voters again approved a levy in 2012 to help us develop these new parklands according to our comprehensive strategic plan, we made a promise to place a Metropark within 5 miles of everyone in Lucas County, and to connect those parks to whatever extent possible.
“The Oak Openings Corridor Trail embodies everything we envisioned when we embarked on this plan 16 years ago,” Mr. Savage said.