We have been going to Metroparks for several years, but this was the first year we decided to participate in the Metroparks Trail Challenge. It has been a worthwhile experience and has taken us to several Metroparks we had never previously visited.

One weekend we decided to set out to visit four parks in the same day!

We started by visiting Lake Erie Metropark. First, we visited the Marshland Museum and said hello to Luc the bald eagle. Then, we set off to walk the trails and were impressed by the range of natural features from the lotuses to the Lake Erie views to the turtles and birds of the marshes.

From there, we went to Oakwoods Metropark. We jogged on the path to visit the first Trail Challenge kiosk and continued on to the entry to the second trail. We walked around the viewing loop and saw a couple of butterflies, but we mostly saw dragonflies on the day we visited.

Next up, we visited Willow Metropark. We navigated our way to the trail challenge kiosk, walked a bit of the path, and took some pictures of the riverbend. It was beginning to get a bit dark and we planned to visit one more park, so we had to keep moving.

Finally, we visited Lower Huron Metropark. We first walked on the Bobwhite Nature Trail. It was a nice calm loop through the woods. Next, we had to get in some miles to meet our weekly running goal, so we parked at Tulip Tree and finished off with a few miles on the path.

We have had quite the adventure visiting all of these Metroparks and are looking forward to the next Metroparks Trail Challenge! -Peter