Maumee Bay State Park: Boardwalk Trail (Blog Hike #660)

Trail: Boardwalk Trail

Hike Location: Maumee Bay State Park

Geographic Location: east of Oregon, OH (41.68358, -83.36805)

Length: 2.3 miles

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)

Dates Hiked: August 2017

Overview: A semi-loop on boardwalk through a wide variety of wetlands.

Park Information: https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/maumee-bay-state-park

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=733364
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: On the east side of Toledo, take I-280 to SR 2 (exit 7).  Exit and go east on SR 2.  Drive SR 2 east 6.3 miles to North Curtice Road and turn left on North Curtice Road; a traffic light and brown road sign for Maumee Bay State Park are located at this intersection.  North Curtice Road dead-ends 3 miles later at the state park entrance.  Follow signs for the Nature Center and park in the parking lot in front of the Nature Center.

The hike: Located on the shore of Lake Erie less than 10 miles east of Toledo, 1436 acre Maumee Bay State Park is the largest and best-amenitied state park in northwestern Ohio.  Before it became a state park, a community of lakefront vacation cottages called Niles Beach occupied this land.  The cottages were destroyed during a major storm in 1972, and in 1974 the State of Ohio purchased the land to establish the park.  The park offers nearly every amenity including a 120 room lodge, a 252-site modern campground, 24 cabins, 32 boat slips and a beach on Lake Erie, 6 picnic shelters, and a Scottish links-style golf course.  Anglers flock here due to its location on Lake Erie, which is known as the walleye capital of the world. 

In terms of trails, the park offers a 3 mile paved biking and jogging trail, 2.5 miles of multi-use trails, and the 2.5 mile hiker-only Mouse Trail.  Yet the park’s best hiking option may be the 2 miles of interpretive boardwalk on the park’s east side, which is the hike described here.  One of the longest boardwalks in the state, the wooden boardwalk takes you through a wide variety of wetland habitats and offers a great way to experience the marshes along Lake Erie.

Start of boardwalk at Nature Center

            From the porch in back of the Nature Center, pick up the boardwalk as it heads east into an area that floods only occasionally.  A sign engraved in the wood tells you that this boardwalk was built in 1992 by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Conservation Corps.  A few of the boards creaked on my visit, but overall the boardwalk was well-maintained and in good condition considering its age.

            After curving left to begin heading north, you reach a trail junction where you should angle left.  The boardwalk is constructed as a pair of loops, a shorter western loop you are currently on and a longer eastern loop we will hike later.  Trail intersections are identified by letters and have trail maps posted; this system is native to Minnesota and Michigan but has been adopted by many Ohio state parks within the past 10 years.  This trail junction is point B.

Marsh mallow in bloom

            The boardwalk heads north through a small wet meadow that contained some marsh mallow in full bloom on my visit.  At 0.2 miles, you reach trail intersection D and the northwest corner of the wetland.  The boardwalk exiting left leads only to the lodge, so you want to turn right to continue the short loop.  Views of Lake Erie’s Maumee Bay peak through the silver maple and basswood trees to your left, but a better view will be obtained later.

            At 0.35 miles, the connector to the longer eastern loop exits left at trail intersection E.  If you wanted only a short 0.5 mile boardwalk hike, you could continue straight here and head directly back to the Nature Center, but this hike turns left to hike the full boardwalk.  The boardwalk heads east first through a swamp forest and then through a buttonbush swamp full of phragmites.  Where the boardwalk splits to form the eastern loop, angle left to walk the long loop clockwise.

Boardwalk through buttonbush swamp

            Just shy of 1 mile into the hike, a spur boardwalk exits left at trail intersection G.  This boardwalk leads to a small elevated platform that gives views across Maumee Bay.  The open cattail marsh that surrounds the platform makes for good bird viewing, and a bench here is a good place for a trail snack near the midpoint of this hike.

Platform's view of Maumee Bay

Tree growing beside boardwalk

            Back on the main boardwalk, the spur boardwalk that exits left at trail intersection I leads to an area that offers benches but no lake views.  Another spur boardwalk exits left at trail intersection K, but it leads only to another trailhead and no other points of interest.  The final segment of the eastern loop leads through more swamp forest, and some trees growing into the side of the boardwalk give further indication of this boardwalk’s age.  At 2 miles, you close the eastern loop.  Turning left retraces your steps to the western loop, where another left turn will bring you back to the Nature Center to complete the hike.