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Tent campsite • History • Directions

Amenities: 932 acres. Picnic areas with grills. Picnic shelter (south), restrooms. Over five miles of hiking trails. Playground (south park only). Fishing. Tent campsite. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Ball/game fields.

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.

Skok Meadow

Lake Metroparks has another 1.17-mile loop pedestrian-only trail at Skok Meadow, located in its Girdled Road Reservation. 

A separate 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.

Tent campsite

This creekside site is located along the Buckeye Trail and Big Creek surrounded by more than 900 acres of the Girdled Road Reservation in Concord Township. This is a perfect site for people training for long distance backpacking trips. Reserved parking provided on Concord-Hambden Road (S.R. 608) approximately 1/3 mile from the campsite. This is a true backcountry site and restroom facilities are not available
Click here for more information and to reserve campsite.

History

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.

Directions: South Entrance: Take I-90 to Rt. 44 south; proceed 1.6 miles. Turn left (east) onto Girdled Road for 2.5 miles. Turn right (south) onto Concord Hambden Road (Rt. 608); proceed about 2 miles. Turn left (east) onto Radcliffe Road for 0.3 mile. Proceed to Girdled Road Reservation, located on the left (north).

North Entrance: Take I-90 to Rt. 44 south; proceed 1.6 miles. Turn left (east) onto Girdled Road for 3.5 miles. Proceed to Girdled Road Reservation on the right (south).

Skok Meadow Entrance: Take I-90 to Rt. 44 south; proceed 1.6 miles. Turn left (east) onto Girdled Road for 2.5 miles. Turn right (south) onto Concord Hambden Road (Rt. 608); proceed 0.5 mile to the park entrance on the left.