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North Entrance: 12840 Girdled Road
Concord Twp., OH 44077
GPS Lon: 81° 10' 39.850" W • Lat: 41° 40' 4.641" N

South Entrance: 12899 Radcliffe Road
Concord Twp., OH 44077
GPS Lon: 81° 10' 28.605" W • Lat: 41° 38' 29.009" N

Skok Meadow (West): 12415 Concord-Hambden Road
Concord Twp, OH 44077
GPS Lon: 81° 10' 28.605" W • Lat: 41° 38' 29.009" N

Trail Map PDF

Hours: Sunrise to sunset.

Amenities: 902 acres. Picnic areas with grills. Picnic shelter (south). Drinking water (north), restrooms. Over five miles of hiking trails. Playground (south park only). Fishing. Cross-country skiing. Ball/game fields.

Directions:
South Entrance: Take I-90 to Rt. 44 south. Turn left (east) onto Girdled Road for about 2.5 miles. Turn right (south) onto Rt. 608 for about 2 miles. Turn left (east) onto Radcliffe Road for .3 mile. Proceed to Girdled Road Reservation, located on the left (north).
North Entrance: Take I-90 to Rt. 44 south. Turn left (east) onto Girdled Road for 3.5 miles. Proceed to Girdled Road Reservation on the right (south).

Shelter Rental: Reserve online or call 440-358-7275.

New Trail at Girdled Road Reservation’s Skok Meadow

Lake Metroparks opened a 1-mile loop pedestrian-only trail at Skok Meadow, located in its Girdled Road Reservation.  A new entrance and parking lot to access the trail is located at 12415 Concord-Hambden Road (Rt. 608).  Hikers may experience uneven terrain for most of the loop that features a pond and traces the meadow perimeter with views of changing fall colors along the Big Creek Valley.  The trail head is limestone/crushed gravel, then becomes a natural, mowed-grass trail.  To maintain the natural conditions of the trail and prevent ruts and damage, horses and bicycles are not permitted.

Girdled Road Reservation was purchased by Lake Metroparks in 1965. It is named for the first road that the early European settlers built from the Pennsylvania line to the new city of Cleveland in the early 1800s. A small path was cut first. Settlers knew that a larger road was needed, so they "girdled" the trees along the path. (Girdling a tree means cutting through the bark around the entire tree. This cuts off the flow of nutrients so the tree dies. Once a tree dies, it is much easier to remove it and thus widen the road.) Today the remaining section of Girdled Road is the northern boundary of this park.

Historically accessed from Radcliffe Road in the south and Girdled Road in the north, and now via Concord-Hambden Road (Rt. 608) at Skok Meadow, is one of the park district’s most biologically diverse properties. Covered by a mosaic of woodland, meadow and wetland, the park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. In 2010, 64 resident bird species, 38 butterflies, 18 mammals, 39 dragonflies and damselflies, 19 reptiles and amphibians and countless plant species were documented in the park. Among these are a number of rare or endangered species including yellow-bellied sapsuckers, cerulean warblers, bobolinks and a shrub called hobblebush.

Within the 932 acres of Girdled Road Reservation visitors can experience the beauty of many different types of habitats-dense forests, fields and wetlands. Audubon Ohio has designated this park as an Important Bird Area. The Buckeye Trail, marked with light blue blazes on trees, runs through Girdled Road Reservation. This statewide trail travels through public and private properties as well as along back roads. Here it enters at the parking lot on Girdled Road and exits onto Rt. 608 at the Big Creek bridge.