Girdled Road Reservation - Lake Metropark

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Girdled Road Reservation was purchased by Lake Metroparks in 1965. It is named for the first road that the early European settlers built from the Pennsylvania line to the new city of Cleveland in the early 1800s. A small path was cut first. Settlers knew that a larger road was needed, so they "girdled" the trees along the path. (Girdling a tree means cutting through the bark around the entire tree. This cuts off the flow of nutrients so the tree dies. Once a tree dies, it is much easier to remove it and thus widen the road.) Today the remaining section of Girdled Road is the northern boundary of this park.

Within the 902 acres of Girdled Road Reservation visitors can experience the beauty of many different types of habitats-dense forests, fields and wetlands. Audubon Ohio has designated this park as an Important Bird Area. The Buckeye Trail, marked with light blue blazes on trees, runs through Girdled Road Reservation. This statewide trail travels through public and private properties as well as along back roads. Here it enters at the parking lot on Girdled Road and exits onto Rt. 608 at the Big Creek bridge.

www.lakemetroparks.com/select-park/girdled-road.shtml