Oak Openings--Foxfire Trail (yellow)

Birds of Interest

This is an excellent trail for viewing Barred Owls, Hooded Warblers, and Acadian Flycatchers.

About this Location

The Foxfire Trail is routed west from the Mallard Lake Area through an area of mixed hardwood forest and wetland, circling nearby Horseshoe Lake.  Floodplain trees such as red oak, buckeye, sycamore, and cottonwood can be seen towering overhead. The trail may be closed at times in the spring due to wet conditions, however, the showy wildflower display abounds in the spring with trout lily, Jack-in-the-pulpit, and cut-leaved toothwort. Look for the meandering tracks of raccoons, skunks, and fox in the mud along this trail.

Parking for this trail can be found in the Mallard Lake Area.

This trail may be closed at times in the spring because of very wet conditions.

About Oak Openings Preserve Metropark

See all hotspots at Oak Openings Preserve Metropark

Located between Whitehouse and Swanton, Oak Openings Preserve takes its name from the surrounding region, which is 23 times larger than the park itself. That’s something to consider when you realize that Oak Openings Preserve is over 4,000 acres.

Pioneers trudging through a dense swamp called this area “Oak Openings.” Most of the park is an oak savanna ecosystem, characterized by alternating wetlands and vegetated dunes. The Nature Conservancy once named the sandy region one of the 200 “Last Great Places on Earth.”

Prickly-pear cactus, wild lupine, and sand cherry bloom atop dry, hot sand dunes just yards away from orchids growing in low, wet swales. There are more than 50 miles of trails in Oak Openings Preserve. Stands of isolated pine and spruce planted by the WPA during the Great Depression are still visible.

Oak Openings is a birder’s paradise. It is the nesting place of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Whippoorwills, Lark Sparrows, and many other species, as well as an excellent location to see migrating songbirds in the spring.

Features

  • Entrance fee

Content from Oak Openings Preserve Metropark Official Website and Ohio Ornithological Society