Pacesetters Picnic and Hike

About The Event

Please join us on for a deli potluck picnic with optional hikes to follow (.2 miles up to 3 miles) on May 16 at 12:00 at Liberty Park and Nature Center near Twinsburg.

Sign up for deli meats, or bread, or potato/coleslaw/mac salad by way of email to Laurie and Keith Logan.

Admission is free and there is plenty of parking near the handicap accessible Nature Center. Carpooling may be worth the effort as the park is a 35-minute drive from church.

This event is “rain or shine” (in keeping with our NEOH grittiness) so pack a raincoat if the forecast is less than ideal. The picnic pavilion is outside but under roof protection.

At 3,000 acres, Liberty Park is the largest natural area managed by Summit Metro Parks and is home to many unique geological features.

Long before Liberty Park was formed, prehistoric people camped here, drank from the clean, cold springs and hunted game. Upon European settlement, trees were cleared for farming, but maples were spared for their sweet sap.

The park harbors countless rare and endangered species, including Indiana bats, marsh wrens and bald eagles, as well as more common species like beavers, otters, red-backed salamanders, wood frogs, gray rat snakes, and numerous dragonflies and butterflies. Large trees stand on rock ledges and in wetlands within the conservation area, where fens and bogs are “protected” by poison sumac and swamp rose. In 2006, Liberty Park was designated as an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society and in 2020, Summit Metro Parks completed a 15-year project to restore 5 miles of stream and 100+ acres of wetlands at Pond Brook.