If you’re looking for a reason to explore the outdoors and walk more this season, go take a hike! This fall, from September 1st to November 30th, anyone close to Summit County parks can participate in a series of hikes to earn a shield.
This year is the 58th Fall Hiking Spree provided by the parks, though the park system has existed well before the spree. The Summit Metroparks service has been around since 1921 and began with F. A. Seiberling, who also co-founded Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
The first park was Sand Run Metropark in Akron, which is home to a selected trail for the spree. The next parks released were Furnace Run, Goodyear Heights, and Gorge Metro Parks, three parks that also have paths counting towards the hiking spree. Currently, there are 16 different parks in the Metroparks system with 150 miles of trails, all of which are located in Summit County.
When walking on the trails this season, you may find many hikers carrying a special hiking stick. When you complete 8 hikes out of 12 available choices, participants receive a shield to put on their hiking stick. The first year a hiker participates in the spree, they receive their first shield and the official hiking stick. As one accumulates shields over the years, the stick gets more filled up and there is less blank space each year. This year’s shield says “Grow Wild” with animal silhouettes hidden in the background. Other shields have celebrated specific animals, unique aspects of Northeast Ohio nature, and special anniversary dates since the Summit Metroparks have been established.
Once you start the spree tradition, it’s hard to stop.
Some older hikers are found trekking the trails with their sticks completely covered in shields. It’s not difficult to find couples who have participated in the spree since the 60s & 70s. In my family, we’ve received 6 shields on each of our sticks and have participated since 2016. We’ve been to almost all the spree parks, and we’ve learned some parks are simply more entertaining than others. Of the selected parks for this hiking spree, here are the ones you have to check out or may want to avoid before earning your shield.
O’Neil Woods Metro Park ~ Deer Run Trail If you’re a sucker for stairs, this may be the hike for you. The most distinct aspect of this trail was the endless amount of wooden stairs, which isn’t a problem when going down, but would be torturous if you choose to go up that same way. Our group encountered a large black snake while on this hike, though we’ve only seen two snakes in all our years of doing the spree. The trail is strenuous, so you may want to keep that in mind before committing to this hike. It shouldn’t be the first hike you take if you’ve never hiked before, but it’s still enjoyable if you don’t mind a little challenge.
Liberty Park ~ Coyote Run Trail This park is my absolute favorite of all the places I’ve visited, most likely since it’s the one I’m most familiar with. Of all the parks on the list, this one is the closest to Hudson, in the neighboring town of Twinsburg. This park has a nature center which is one of three locations where hikers can turn in their hiking sheet to receive their shield. The center also hosts nature-related activities and games, as well as occasional snacks. The actual trails themselves are standard but are the perfect mix between not too easy or hard. All the trails at this park would be a good beginning option for hikers.
Silver Creek Metro Park ~ Pheasant Run Trail Pheasant Run Trail is very inconsistent, and nature can’t decide what mood it’s in. That may sound negative, but it’s exciting and adds visual appeal to your hike. There are times when you’re surrounded by leafy trees, times when short trees are only on the edge of the path, times where it’s open with a small wooden bridge over water, and times when the area drastically gets spookier and changes to a forest with tall trees that only have branches, not leaves. The trail is a unique experience that isn’t common in Ohio but is tame enough to be a hiker’s first experience.
Hiker’s Choice The hiker’s choice isn’t a specific trail but rather a type of “free space” for your hiking sheet. With this, hikers can choose a Metropark trail that is not on the list but still counts as one of their eight hikes. This could be a trail from an entirely new park or a different trail from a selected park. As long as it’s a part of the Summit Metroparks parks, anything goes.
If you’re genuinely interested in getting to know the parks, this is a great way to experience them. For more information, you can go to the Summit Metroparks website to learn about all the possible parks and which hikes are eligible for the spree.
