Side Cut

The first Metropark is a favorite destination beside the Maumee River.

Side Cut is where the Metroparks system began more than 90 years ago, and remains a signature Toledo-area destination today. The riverside park draws fishermen from around the country as walleye swim upriver to spawn in the rapids where they came from in late March and April.

The flat rocks that extend into the river between Maumee and Waterville are known as the Maumee River Ledges, a rare form of a little-known habitat called an alvar, found in only a handful of places on the Great Lakes.

The name, Side Cut, is derived from the former "side cut" extension of the Miami and Erie Canal that connected the main line of the canal with the city of Maumee. Three of the six original locks from the canal system were preserved by WPA workers during The Great Depression. The federal work project employees also built a number of shelters in the park.

Infused with tradition and history, Side Cut is one of a series of riverfront parks. It is also connected with the Fallen Timbers Monument and Battlefield, and the Wabash Cannonball Trail.

Activities and attractions within Side Cut include river and canal access, a sledding hill, playground, indoor and picnic shelters, and wildlife feeding stations with indoor viewing areas, called Windows on Wildlife.