Metro Parks Serving Summit County

I have to admit, the parks in Summit County are one of the few things I enjoy about this area. Not all of them are kept up the way the should be but most of them are absolutely stunning. Virginia Kendell, the ledges in Twinsburg are probably two of my favorites! If you enjoy photography, art or writing then these two locations are great for capturing some inspiration!
A nice (more secluded) park is the O’Neil Woods in Bath, OH. I didn’t get to explore both paths yet but the «Trail Lot» was quiet, had a cute little creek, clean and peaceful. Hands down, Summit offers some of the better parks I’ve visited and are definitely worth the trip :)

The Metro Parks provide Summit County residents with a park system that residents from large counties can only dream about.
With parks and trails in nearly every jurisdiction in the county, Metro Parks serves everybody. Are you looking for a gentle hike? They have trails like that. Although this is Ohio, which is notoriously flat and monotonous, they also have extremely challenging trails, such as the Dogwood Trail at Sand Run Metro Park.
Unlike the Metroparks system in Cuyahoga County, which emphasizes nature and… umm…golfing and keeping animals in captivity for the amusement of little kids, the Metro Parks system of Summit County has something for nature lovers, conservationists, history buffs, and people who simply enjoy lounging by ponds. Every trail seems to be historically significant, with signs marking historical points along each trail.
While many park systems are not growing, the number of trails and Metro Parks have increased significantly during the past decade. I just visited one in Springfield Twp. that is small — only a few hundred acres, if that — that opened up this year.
The highlights of the system are Sand Run, Seiberling Nature Realm, Gorge, and Cascade Metro Parks — they’re essentially one continuous metro park — and the Towpath Trail, hands down. Sand Run Metro Park extends from Fairlawn to Cuyahoga Falls, while Cascade heads along the Ohio & Erie Canal from the Akron-​Cuyahoga Falls border to Downtown Akron and Gorge Metro Park follows the Cuyahoga River along the Akron-​Cuyahoga Falls border (the Nature Realm is completely surrounded by Sand Run Metro Park in Akron). In a nutshell, you’ve got nearly 10 square miles of non-​stop scenery and recreation that is unparalleled. The Towpath follows the Ohio & Erie Canal from Lake Erie to, one day, New Philadelphia, and showcases the histories of Akron, Clinton, Barberton, the Cuyahoga Valley, and Summit County.
If you are a nature lover, this is a system that you NEED to check out.