Lake Metroparks opens Hemlock Ridge Park, adds to Lakefront Trail - The News-Herald
Published by: The News-Herald
By: Bryson Durst
Original article found here
Lake Metroparks recently expanded trail access near the Grand River and Lake Erie.
The park district opened Hemlock Ridge Park in Leroy Township earlier this fall. Located at 5800 Vrooman Road, north of the Interstate 90 ramps, the park includes a pavilion, winding trail and bridges in the woods between the freeway and the Grand River.
Visitors enter the park through an approximately 0.3-mile driveway. They can then walk along the 0.87-mile, gravel-surfaced Grand View Loop Trail, which also includes a 0.12-mile connector that returns to the parking lot halfway through the trail.
The trail is only a portion of the 619-acre property. Park district signage said that the park will be “a work in progress” in the coming years.
“Hemlock Ridge Park boasts high-quality forests, intact floodplain, hemlock-lined streams and more than a mile of Grand River frontage,” stated the park website. “This section of the Grand River is designated as wild by the state of Ohio, denoting undeveloped riverbanks and clean water.”
Hemlock Ridge is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to the Lake Metroparks website.
Up along Lake Erie, the park district recently opened the second phase of the Lakefront Trail at Painesville Township Park, which the park district manages as part of an agreement with the Painesville Township Park Commissioners.
The second phase extends the existing trail another 800 feet, according to a post on the park’s Facebook page.
“Perched above the newly constructed breakwall, this section offers some truly gorgeous, unobstructed views of the lake,” the post said.
The first phase of the Lakefront Trail opened last year, measuring about 2,300 feet. To build phase two, the park district needed to build the breakwall to protect the shoreline.
With the completion of phase two, the trail now extends across an easement granted by property owner Kurtz Brothers. The park district is looking to extend it to Fairport Harbor, using the lakefront portion of the former Diamond Shamrock property.
“Engineering for Phase 3 is already underway and will continue the trail west toward Fairport Harbor,” the park post said. “Stay tuned as progress continues on this beautiful stretch of shoreline.”
Painesville Township Park is located at 1025 Hardy Road. The park is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The nearby pier is accessible around the clock, unless there is inclement weather.