Edison Woods Preserve

Wetlands, woodlands, sandstone cliffs and meadows all make up the 1300 acres of the Edison Woods Preserve located north of Berlin Heights, Ohio on State Route 61. When completed, the preserve (shown in our photos below) will boast over seven miles of trails that are ideal for hiking, cross county, skiing, bird watching as well as horseback riding.  The preserve is open daily from 8am to sundown. Seasonal portable restrooms are available on site. Edison Woods Preserve is the only park in the Erie Metropark system that's designed for use both by people walking and people riding horses which does create some problems given that many of the trails are located on low level grade. Read reviews below.

On-Site Review - Adventure Walkway: Edison Wood newest attraction is 1,400 foot pedestrian only boardwalk (shown in photos above) that winds through the woods on the south side of the preserve.  This walkway is sure to be a park walking highlight for people who want to take a leisure walk through the woods.  The walkway has the advantage of not being subject to lowland wet spots after rains. Additionally, the boardwalk is located in a wooded area large enough to allow for additional walkway extensions to be built in the future. The boardwalk area will remind visitors of walking the boardwalk at Old Woman Creek but this trail is more senior friendly being shorter with more sitting areas and it has no inclines. The walkway also has eighteen permanent signs (shown at right above) courtesy of the "Friends of Erie Metroparks" which are strategically located next to the boardwalk that gives a first time visitor an in-depth overview of the park, the wildlife in the area, the geology of the land, the history of the park and other bits of interesting information  This is an excellent educational tool for everyone walking the area including family's or school classes visiting the park.

There are several ways to access the walkway. First, from the main southern parking area off Route 61, you enter the park on a trail which takes you directly past the Adventure Walkway (entrance shown at left) just follow the signs. Or for handicapped people, you can drive back to the horse trailer parking area and park in a special handicapped section. There is a small stone path that goes from the parking area to the walkway.  As noted on the intro of this park, much of the surface is wetland so rain or wet seasons can greatly effect the ease of walking the trails in this park. The walkway has eliminated this problem entirely by having a wood boardwalk built above the terrain so that it's not effected by the surface water on the ground. The trail, while not long in distance, is designed to meander through the woods with a variety of turns so it seems longer than it actually is and it invites the walker to leisurely stroll through the woods rather than power walking.

The walkway exits onto the Dogwood Loop trail (see review below). At this point the visitor can turn left to go back to the parking area or turn right to continue walking down the loop trail. Or, of course, just turn around and walk back on the boardwalk. Whatever way you choose to walk it, this boardwalk trail is a significant improvement over any previous trails at this park and people who walk the parks,  particularly those elderly residents around Berlin Heights, will really enjoy having the Adventure Walkway available to them.

Handicap Review: As noted, the walkway is handicap accessible with slight wood ramps/or level grade at every entrance/exit to the walkway and a specific handicap parking area near the walkway. However, while this trail is handicapped accessible and certainly has room for a wheelchair or walker, there still exists some obstacles in getting to the walkway.  If you use the handicapped parking lot, which is clearly your best option, the stone path between the handicap parking area and the entrance to the walkway is lowland and is affected by wet weather the same as the rest of the park, so at times it's in poor condition due to it's use by horses and park ranger vehicles in wet weather. The Adventure Walkway is truly a wonderful area for handicapped people to enjoy, but the handicap parking area probably should have been located at the other end of the stone path (beside the creek) which would have made it much closer to the walkway and far more accessible for some handicapped people visiting the park.

On-Site Review - DOGWOOD LOOP (1.3 Miles):  The main trail that enters into the park directly from the parking lot is a 1.3 mile trail that most people will choose to walk. The first half of the trail is a utility right of way road which has a wooded area on each side of the dirt road. It's a flat earth trail that is scenic and easy to walk with some wet spots during spring and fall. The trail has two left turns onto the loop part of the trail. The one in the back part of the trail turns left and for the next quarter mile or so is in generally poor condition. Getting back to the horses that use this park, they obviously use this section of the trail and because of the parks wetland base, the horses often leave tracks and this part of the trial has some ruts and deep horse hoof impressions. This can be dangerous footing for seniors walking this section of the trail and I would advise to use caution when walking this section of the trail.  If you choose to just turn around and walk back the way you came, you'll still have walked over a mile by the time you get back to the parking lot.

If you do continue on the trail, the last half mile or so is a beautiful walk through the woods with generally good footing.  It should be noted there are a several low spots that can accumulate significant surface water during wet weather and this is a preserve so the trails are in their natural state which means an occasional tree root or small rock jutting up from the earth trail.

Finally then, there's also another entrance on the left side of the main trail that takes you through  the Dogwood Loop in the west to east direction which I think was the original entrance for the Dogwood Loop but my experience tells me that most people walk it from right to left (east to west) rather than left to right (west to east) which probably has more to do with the wetland ground conditions than any backward thinking on the part of the people walking the trails.  All entrances and intersections of the wooded part of the Dogwood Loop have easy to read directional  maps.

On-Site Review - Ghost RR Trail (1.2 miles):  The name comes from a railroad train that used to pass through the woods and although the tracks are gone now, you can still visualize where the tracks were located hence the name "Ghost RR Trail". This trail's entrance is directly off the "Dogwood Loop" trail so when you're walking down the utility road, about 1/2 mile down the road you'll come to a signpost on the right side of the trail indicating that is the entrance to the Ghost RR Trail. Interestingly, there is somewhat of an optical illusion at the entrance marker because the first section of this trail is uphill to the ridge above the trail. The area behind the entrance sign has no horizon line and therefore the signpost tends to blend into the surroundings wooded area at certain times of the year. My advise to people walking on the loop is to keep a sharp eye out for the sign and you'll be ok. And my advise to the park is to put a bench at the entrance to the this trail. Not only to make it easier to locate the entrance, but also a welcome rest stop for people who might want to take a rest before climbing the hill. And I should note that the park has signs advising these trails for hikers only - not walkers. That is good advise as you'll see below in my review.

The trail itself is more challenging  than the Dogwood Loop. To begin with the Ghost RR Trail is really a combination of three  trails so if you get confused by reading this, you can click on the trail map listed at the bottom of the page which might help you understand the layout. The trail initially goes up a hill to a ridgeline path at the top of the hill. It is a somewhat gradual incline, but still an incline and it's steep enough to be slippery in wet weather. Again, the problem is that horses use this incline and in my opinion, this section of the trail is a bit treacherous in the wet months of spring and fall. Not only do people have to deal with deep, wet, slippery horse hoof indentations but also the rangers take their wide tired trail cart up this trail and put huge, deep grooves in the trail which fill with water when it rains.  In this park, more than any in the Metroparks system, I think it should be required that rangers who work this park be required to walk the Dogwood and Ghost RR. Tail every spring and fall.  Perhaps once they experience the problems that walkers have with these trails, maybe something will be done about them. This part of the trail get so wet and slippery during heavy rains that I've actually spoken with people who won't ride their horses up this hill because it's to dangerous. Clearly, if you're going to walk up this hill use a walking stick or do  it during the dry, summer months of July and August.

At the top of the hill, you turn left onto the South Ridge Line (trail number two) which is a scenic walk with woods on the left and a boulder strewn hill on the right. There are several low spots on this trail that can also be slippery when wet. After a 1/4 mile or so you'll come to a signpost that directs you to turn left to enter the Upland Oak Trail (trail number three) . At one time this section of the trail was also bad for walking, but now they have a rule that horses are forbidden on this section of the trail and what a huge difference it has made. Unfortunately, most people would enter this trail on the Ghost RR Trail section which as noted above could be a problem for most walkers. And as near as I can tell, there aren't any directional signpost at the top of this hill when going up this direction, so it's a little confusing on where to go if you enter the trail on this side.  Just remember to go right when you get to the ridgeline path of the trail.

I've walked this trail several times with the latest being in early October of 2007 and I cannot recommend the Ghost RR Trail for elderly people walking at Edison Woods. This trail, like many of the trails in Edison Woods, is designed for hikers not walkers. Younger hikers would have less of a problem with this trail, but it's just not ready at this time for seniors to enjoy. As noted previously, a wooden bench at the entrance to this trail would be appreciated for the convenience and safety of the people walking the Ghost RR Trail. But this doesn't address the biggest problem and I don't know the answer to the question of the horse trails. I know that this park is big enough for both horses and people to enjoy, but I cannot see any way they can safely use the same trails. Perhaps an inexpensive solution would be to designate a two or three foot wide path beside the existing trails on the hillside. The path, with the surface perhaps made out of wood chips, could have a rope guideline beside it for safety in climbing or descending the hills. The fact is that other than the pedestrian only Adventure Walkway, almost every trail in this park (currently they list 14 trails) have footing problems where both people and horses cross the various trails. This is a beautiful reserve with many things to enjoy but for seniors, the walking trails pose some serious concerns.