A picture is worth a thousand words, but some pictures are best painted by numbers: 825 acres, 7 miles of trails, 4 soccer fields, 3 softball fields, 2 playgrounds, and 1 gigantic burr oak. The year 1989 brought something new for Medina County Park District – not only the opening of Buckeye Woods Park, but also its first nature preserve, Schleman Nature Preserve, on adjacent land generously donated by Theda Schleman. Along with the Chippewa Inlet Trail that passes through Buckeye Woods, these three connected parklands in Lafayette Township comprise one of the district’s largest and most diverse holdings.
Entering from the State Route 162 trailhead, visitors are welcomed into Schleman Nature Preserve by a cathedral of pine trees. Continue along the one-mile nature trail, and you’ll encounter one of the grandest old citizens of the Medina County Park District – a burr oak tree of awe-inspiring proportions. Further along, hikers pass through a grove of buckeyes that gives the adjoining park its name. Honoring the wishes of the Schleman family, the preserve remains undeveloped to allow visitors to enjoy the plants and animals that call it home.
Next door, Buckeye Woods Park has a long local history, too. Donated by the Medina County Commissioners, it once was part of the farming operation of the Medina County Home. The story of the land’s agricultural past is found in the heavy thicket of hawthorn trees along one of the trails. Formerly used as pasture, grazing animals devoured virtually all of the plant life except for these thorny trees, which soon dominated the area. The wide-open fields of Buckeye Woods make the park ideal not only for the youth sports teams that compete on its softball and soccer fields but also for hosting large community events. The network of excellent trails provides a favorite site for charitable 5K runs and walks.
Follow a connector trail north from the center of Buckeye Woods past the park’s three-acre lake, and you’ll emerge from the trees into a sprawling wet-lands complex that is a critical part of the Chippewa Lake Upper Watershed. Approximately 52 acres of wetland restored in 2007 intercept and filter the waters of two significant streams in the watershed.
A crushed limestone path encircles the wetland area, which is home to numerous waterfowl. This path, with an entry point and parking area off U.S. Route 42, is the northern trailhead of the Chippewa Inlet Trail. It winds around the wetlands, through the heart of Buckeye Woods Park, where the surface switches to asphalt and follows Chippewa Creek south to Chippewa Road.
In partnership with the Ohio and U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies, Medina County Park District completed a major stream restoration project at this site, effectively restoring wetlands that had been drained for farming in the late 1800s.
Opened in 2002, the paved portion of the Chippewa Inlet Trail is a favorite of cyclists. Humans aren’t the only ones who benefit from this protected corridor. It’s a stopover for many long-distance bird migrants. American avocets, sandhill cranes, American bittern and bald eagles have all been spotted in this fertile watershed valley.
To make a sports field reservation, call the park office at 330-722-9364.
Check the availability of Buckeye Woods Parks sports fields here.
Park Headquarters Phone
(330) 722-9364 or (844) 722-9364
Park Police
Emergencies: 911
Non-emergencies: (330) 725-6631
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