OVERVIEW (Description and Impressions below)

There is poster on the Sharon Woods Metro Park boards that has aerial photos which show the park (or the boundaries of the park) in 1948, 1972 and in 2000. The pictures show what you would expect. A large open chunk of farmland morphs into a forested park surrounded by more chunks of open farmland and a few residential developments and then into a road-locked preserve surrounded by extensive development both commercial and residential. It's a fate that seems to overtake a lot of these parks--neighboring Highbanks is rapidly being enclosed by the explosive Delaware county growth. So it is nice that as development moves farther out, we have these giant islands of nature that allow us to get away from the noise and bustle without having to drive hours to open country.

Sharon Woods Metro Park is located off Cleveland Avenue (SR 710) a little north of I-270 and opposite the Mt. Carmel/St Anne's hospital complex. It is a fairly large urban park bounded by two freeways, I-71 on the west and I-270 on the south. It has, to my way of thinking, two fairly distinct sections and two different feels: the southern part of the park, around Schrock Lake, is like many other urban parks with its picnic areas and open, groomed fields; the northern part of the park, with its nature walks, natural woods and fields, is more like wilderness. There are a couple of trail options. For those who want a traditional asphalt striped trail, there is the 3.8 mile multi-purpose trail that loops around the outer parts of the park. And a pair of unpaved nature trails that form and irregular kind of figure eight with Schrock Lake splitting them on the south side.

DESCRIPTION

THE MULTI-PURPOSE TRAIL

The 3.8 mile asphalt loop trail is 8' wide  and can be accessed from the access road  with the best parking access being the Maple Grove Picnic Area (the first left parking area after entering.) The trail has a somewhat unique system. It is split by a solid yellow line with all cycle traffic on the left side (going counterclockwise) and all foot traffic (run and walk) on the right side--allowed in both directions. (And, yes, this occasionally makes for some confusion for the non-familiar with walkers traveling clockwise in the bicycle lane) Briefly, going counterclockwise.

Going counterclockwise from the Maple Grove Picnic Area (bottom entry): the trail ramps up slightly running along the parking area and past a warm-up area. Most user applied mileage marks start from this point. The trail tops out and levels and make a short run to cross the access road. Once across, there is a slight downhill as it curves out toward the Cleveland Ave entrance. There is a side trail which goes out to the road. The trail itself turns north. moves into the woods, and continues downhill a little more sharply until it bottoms out at the sledding hills. It crosses a wood bridge and rises just as sharply for perhaps an tenth of a mile. It levels out and slowly see-saws upwards for another quarter and then drops, with a sharper downhill run which bottoms out on another wooden plank bridge and the trail rises up again, more sharply this time and a much steeper rise for another eighth of a mile before leveling out again. The trail traverses some of the heavy woods in the northwest corner of the park an runs briefly along the edge of the large prairie meadow in the center of the park. The trail runs pretty much flat with a slight downhill through another short stand of woods and turns near the park border with I-71. It runs south following the fence line, turning east to follow I-270 and through a stand of old growth pine. It crosses a couple of maintenance roads and drops somewhat as it returns to the parking area.

The relative shortness of the multi-use trail makes it less attractive, I think, to serious cyclists unless they're looking for some good but short hill work on the back side. On the other hand, for runners like me, it is a nice run with a good challenge in the two back hills. There are the usual unofficial trail distance marks at the mile and half mile points.

MARKERS

The multi-use trail, like most, has acquired user mile marks painted on the asphalt over the years. One set, the one that I've used, starts at the entrance off the Maple Grove parking area (the one with the stretching area) and marks off miles. Recently (8/07) I noticed that the trail had acquired these wooden posts at those same mile points. I assume that they will get actual mile markers at some point. More on this when they are completed.

The entrance off Maple Grove showing the wooden post.	A closer view. This is the same standard as on other trails for mile posts.

THE NATURE TRAILS

There are two loop trails, the Spring Creek trail (1.7M) in the east side of the park and the Edward S. Thompson trail (1.0M) in the south west corner. Both trails are primarily gravel/crushed stone/hardpack dirt. Spring Creek snakes around it's namesake which runs through the glacier cuts that form the steep valleys in the north east part of the park--the same hilly area that the multi-purpose runs through briefly--and has a much more challenging up--and--down quality to it. The Thompson trail seems flatter and easier.  Between them, on the north, is the great open prairie meadow--and there is a grass-cut connector trail that runs along the south edge of that meadow joining the two trails. On the south, Schrock Lake sits between the two trails which are connected on the south side by the asphalt walkways that run along the lake's southern edge and through the Schrock Lake picnic area. Access to the Spring Creek Trail is easiest form the Apple Ridge Picnic Area (first right turn on the access road). The Thompson trail is best accessed from the Schrock Lake picnic area. There is a short (.25) variant trail, the Oak Openings Trail the splits off and rejoins the Thompson trail.

The trails run through meadow and woods with nice open views and lots of shade. The crushed rock portions can be a little rough on the feet, particularly where the trails climb sharply on the Spring Creek side. Not as steeply challenging as the Highbanks trails but a good mid-range run.

MAPS

The map below was assembled from photography dating back 1-3 years. Some features may have changed but will be indicated. The map is a reduced size file to speed page loading. To the right is a thumbnail which will bring the FULL SIZE file up in a separate window. It is a large file. The thumbnail to the far left is a repro of the Metroparks map. The thumbnail to the near left is an earlier version of the aerial map with pictures from 2002-3.

PHOTOS

THE MULTI-PURPOSE TRAIL

	Where the mile marks start. And you can stretch. Off the first parking area.		The first parking lot off the park entrance.		Trail rules and regulations.		Trail signing.
	Much of the trail runs through these open glades.		There are a couple of road crossings.		There are several open fields		There are several rest stops with benches. Some have water.
	A rest stop sign		There are a few creeks that the trail runs over.		Sometimes, it's like an old country road.		Passing the sledding hills on the northeast side
	The northern part goes up and down hills, some quite challenging.				There are maps along the way.		And lots of wildlife information.
	The western side has these vast open spaces.		The trail division system.		Some parts are more heavily forested.		This emergency call number is on the most remote rest stop.
	And even more heavily forested.		Another open glade,		The southern part runs through these stands of pine.		The trail mile mark system.
	A sunny day in Sharon Woods.		Along the south side, traffic runs a little closer.		And the trail passes by Schrock Lake.

THE NATURE TRAILS

	Typical Spring Creek Trail view. The gravel surface varies from large crushed rock to fine.		Another view.		Another view. Note the crushed rock surface.		The Spring Creek Trail up in the more heavily forested northern end of the park.
	There are open sections.		The trail crosses several park streams.		And the surface can be very coarse crushed rock at time.		The trail branches near Schrock lake.
	You can go around Schrock Lake to go from the Spring Creek Trail to the Thompson Trail.		The trail around the lake is mostly asphalt paved.		Another view		On the west side of the lake, the trail turns back to gravel as it connects with the Thompson trail.
	North of the lake, the trails are also connected by a cut path trail that skirts the great meadow in the center of the park		The connector from the other side.		The Thompson trail has some open sections		And some more forested ones. In general, the trail is more hard packed dirt than the Spring Creek.
	There is an observation deck off the Thompson		The Great Meadow. The asphalt trail skirts along the opposite side		Another view.		Another view.
	One quirk you might want to be cautious of is the occasional buried steel drain with it's ribbed surface sticking up through the ground.		A magnificent old denizen of the park.		One of our Prarie Home Companions--I believe this is tall ironweed.

GETTING TO SHARON WOODS FROM THE ALUM CREEK TRAIL (WESTERVILLE)

Exit the trail at Schrock Rd (north side) follow the bike lane west to Cleveland Avenue. Cross at the light. Follow the walkway north to the entrance to Sharon Woods. On the north side of the entry is a gate and path that leads directly to the Multi-Use trail. (About 20 yards) You can also continue on Schrock, just before the overpass of I-270, there is a pedestrian-only gate that allows access as well.

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06/02/2008