ASHLAND — Whether Ashland County residents are newly embracing the outdoors due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) or simply want to enjoy springtime weather, Ashland County Park District’s Director Stephanie Featheringill encourages all to visit one or more of its 18 parks in the coming weeks.
Many area parks offer hiking trails, fishing ponds, picnic shelters and other amenities that allow visitors to be active while practicing recommended social distancing.
“We’re encouraging the community to enjoy the parks and the natural world around them whether its hiking, walking, running or a nature activity,” Featheringill said.
Additionally, the Park District will begin posting outdoor activity suggestions soon via social media. These are intended to help families find ways to be outdoors, either at the parks or in their own backyard.
Five Things to Do at Ashland County Parks
1. Challenge your family to find more than 100 types of birds at Byers Woods Park.
Featheringill recommends families visit Byers Woods Park to go bird watching.
The more than 200-acre park features more than three miles of trails looping through a wide variety of habitats, including forest, grasslands, wetlands, fishing ponds and more.
The unique and varied environment has made it the ideal spot to find even rare species of birds, Featheringill said. More than 160 different type of birds have been spotted within the park in recent years.
Additionally, the park — a repurposed landfill — includes 50 acres of hardwood forest, most notably large swamp white oaks.
2. Search for and identify animals and their tracks at the Audubon Wetlands Preserve.
Parents with their children from home from school currently might offer a science lesson on wetlands by visiting the Audubon Wetlands Preserve.
This 215-acre park features a new boardwalk across a marsh to the rest of the park.
The wetlands provide breeding grounds for salamanders, peepers, frogs, and toads, which fill the spring air with sounds, according to the ACPD website.
3. Catch and release fish at one of the County Park District’s 14 fishing ponds.
The ACPD features 14 fishing ponds spread between several of its parks, including ones at Hurdle Waterfowl Park, Pine Hill Park and Byers Woods.
They are all catch and release ponds, and many were recently stocked, Featheringill said.
Hurdle Waterfowl Park features a 4.5-acre fishing pond, a 12-acre shallow pond complex and a 2.5-acre duck pond. In 2019, a second parking lot was installed just 500 feet north of the main parking lot for quicker and easier access to the fishing pond.
See the full list of parks and their amenities, such as fishing ponds, at ashlandcountyparks.com.
4. Take a bike ride at Freer Field.
Ashland County’s home of the Balloonfest and other community events features a one-mile paved path ideal for hikers, runners, bikers, strollers, and more.
The trails at Freer Field travel through several habitats, offering views of hickories, oaks, and other hardwoods and wildlife.
Byers Woods Park also features a paved trail.
5. View spring wildflowers at River Walk Nature Area.
The 11-acre natural area, located along the Jerome Fork of the Mohican River just south of Ashland, offers a short three-quarter mile trail ideal for hiking, bird watching and spring wildflower viewing.
The park is home to diverse communities of animals including turtles, river otters, wood ducks, herons and deer.
Find more information about each of the 18 parks and their amenities at ashlandcountyparks.com.
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