TOLEDO, Ohio — This weekend's sunshine had lots of people out and about. As we continue to see warmer weather, there is nowhere better to enjoy it than at one of our 19 Metroparks.
WTOL 11 spoke to Metroparks Toledo spokesman Scott Carpenter about how best to enjoy the parks this time of year.
"Spring is special," says Carpenter. "Everybody is ready to be done with winter, get back out and explore. Soon, if you look closely, you'll see things starting to green up already, some wildflowers popping through. So ya, absolutely. This is probably primetime."
Carpenter says the Maumee River is lining with fisherman hoping to catch walleye, and by the marshes, are hundreds of birds, mainly swans, ducks and geese. So, it's a great time right now for birdwatchers.
In the last eight years, the city has built 10 new parks fulfilling its promise to place a Metropark within five miles of every Lucas County resident.
"Within those parks, in between those parks, we have a total of 200 miles of trail," Carpenter says. "Trails are really the most popular thing in the Metroparks. It's like we can't build them fast enough because they become busy right away."
Although all of the Metroparks have trails and picnic areas, each one has something special.
Howard Marsh, says Carpenter, is a good place for birdwatching. It's also a great place to kayak, which opens next month.
Wildwood, Swan Creek, Sidecut and Pearson are really popular with families because of the different playgrounds.
For more information on the different Metroparks in our area, click here.