Good day for a walk outside
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WHAT: Go Take a Hike!
WHEN: 3 p.m. Sept. 7
WHERE: Osborn Park, Huron Township
INFO: 419-625-7783 or eriemetroparks.org
For the fifth straight year, the Friends of Erie Metroparks are telling people to “Go Take A Hike!” However, it’s not what you think. This is actually a fun-filled community event, which takes place at 3 p.m. Sept. 7 at Osborn Park in Huron Township.
“The idea is to come out to Osborn Park and see what’s happening there,” said Friends of Erie Metroparks President Joyce Deering. “But the big overall purpose is we have a ‘Go Take A Hike!’ program that lasts from Sept. 7 through Dec. 7, and people can earn a free Arkansas Hiking Stick by doing seven out of the 11 hikes.”
The list of hikes includes the Castalia Quarry (Levee loop), Castalia Quarry (winding woods trail & rim), Eagle Point (East Bay & prairie route), Osborn Park (dog park/meadow trail), Osborn Park (perimeter and South Woods), McBride Arboretum (Parker Lake/woodland), Dupont Marsh & Huron River Greenway, Edison Woods (adventure walkway, ghost RR), Coupling Reserve (river trail), Hoffman Forest (meadows/Hoffman Loop) and Norwalk Reservoir.
“They’ll get a brochure as soon as they walk on the premises of all of the parks,” Deering said. “This will encourage them to be involved in our program. And the kickoff event is fantastic and kind of gives them a quick start. They’ll get their two hikes that day. And dogs can do this program. They’ll earn a bandana.”
The group hike will begin with the Kalahari Elephant Mascot greeting the hikers. The hike will explore the perimeter, the woods and the meadows of Osborn Park with a special stop at the Erie Metropark dog park.
Speaking of dogs, Deering said greyhound dogs will be demonstrating lure coursing on the brand-new three-acre dog park, which will be open soon. In lure coursing, dogs chase an artificial lure across a field, following a pattern that is meant to simulate live coursing or hunting.
“Basically they’re pretending to chase rabbits,” Deering said. “So you’ll see some running greyhounds. While people are invited to bring their dogs, we’re not opening the dog park that day.”
After both of the scenic hikes around Osborn Park are completed, everybody is invited to a shindig at the shelter where the activities will include geocaching (finding hidden objects by using GPS coordinates posted on a Web site), old time music from the Skunk Cabbage Band, free hot dogs and children’s activities.
“It’s for all ages and all abilities, and it’s just a healthy, fun, family oriented day which we want to show off Osborn Park,” Deering said. “We also want them to know about all of the parks in Erie County. And we feel it’s very special that we can offer this free of charge to people.”
For more places to hike, check out Funcoast's list of local trails.