Furnace Run Metro Park

Furnace Run Metro Park

Brushwood Area: 4955 Townsend Road Daffodil Trail: 3100 Brush Road Richfield, Ohio 44286

Official Website
Furnace Run Metro Park trail map

Tips for Birding

There are two separate access areas to the park.

  • The Brushwood Area, with access from Townsend Road, includes the Rock Creek Trail and the Old Mill Trail.
  • The Daffodil Trailhead, famous for its thousands of daffodils, is accessed from nearby Brush Road. The diverse habitat can yield good birding.

About this Location

The 890-acre Furnace Run Metro Park began in 1929 when the family of Charles Francis Brush Jr. donated 272 acres to Metro Parks. Much of the park was developed by work relief crews during the 1930s. Brushwood Lake, a once-popular swimming spot before erosion and sedimentation forced its closing in 1956, was created by diverting the natural flow of the Furnace Run.

Every March and April, thousands of daffodils bloom along the H.S. Wagner Daffodil Trail. Wagner, the first director of Metro Parks, owned the land off Brush Road and planted the first bulbs along the trail. After he retired in 1958, he sold the property to Metro Parks and the land became part of Furnace Run Metro Park.

Today, along the Old Mill trail, be sure to look for the Brush Family marker, which reads: “To all those who love as he loved the far sky and smiling land.” Just south of Brushwood Lake flows a recently restored stretch of stream. The award-winning environmental project recreated several thousand feet of habitat for aquatic wildlife and native fish, including a thriving population of rainbow darters, a sensitive species.

The park contains beech-maple woods, acres of spring wildflowers – including trillium and Virginia bluebells – and deep ravines. Birds spotted in Furnace Run Metro Park include a variety of owls, hawks, herons, warblers, and waterfowl. Downstream from the lake, the wet woods of sycamores, black walnuts, willows, and shrubs welcome an occasional family of beavers. Brushwood Lake is home to fish, frogs, and other aquatic wildlife.

Notable Trails

Furnace Run Metro Park Trails
Trails in the Brushwood Area:
Old Mill Trail – 1 mile
Rock Creek Trail – 1.2 miles

Trail in the Daffodil Area:
Daffodil Trail – .6 mile

A description and map of a hike on the Daffodil Trail at Furnace Run Metro Park is on the AllTrails website.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

Content from Official Website and Susan Carpenter