This enchanting nature preserve was only a few minutes away from our campground. We spent countless hours hiking and enjoying the stream and wildlife. It’s slogan, “The woods are calling,” really says it all.
There are two entrances to this beautiful park. We used the entrance near Brown’s Farm most frequently. The only drawback to exploring the 205 acres of natural wonder from this entrance is the open field at the beginning of each of the three trails. The fields have lush, green grass and forest to the side, but the sun beats down on you across the rolling hills which isn’t my ideal for hiking. Pretty soon, you reach the forest paths which are beautiful and shaded. If I could scoop Asbury Woods up and take it with me, I would plant it directly behind my new home. I’ve always dreamed of hiking through a forest behind my home, and this is my ideal. The paths are all worn enough to create clear trails, but they are still filled with natural elements like rocks, roots, and little streams throughout the footpath. There are few areas near the creek where wooden low planks are laid in long bridge-paths across wetland. Despite traversing our favorite paths many times, we always found something new along the way to check out.
We saw people bicycling each time we visited, but there were some pretty steep inclines that even more experienced mountain cyclists would struggle to ascend.
There are many little paths down to the creek, but it is easiest to access on the nature center side of the park. You can still reach the best creek access from Brown’s Farm by crossing over the bridge.
Kaeli and Riley spent many hours wading through, then somehow slipping, and swimming in the creek.
Ginny wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the water. I ended up using my hiking boots to get to the creek, so I stayed out of the water. Instead, I enjoyed perching on a downed log while the kids played. This made Ginny a bit distrustful of the water. If I wouldn’t get in, then maybe it wasn’t really safe. The girls sometimes coaxed her in the water with animal crackers.
Ginny would collect the treat, then return to her safe spot by my side.
Sometimes, she would bark if the girls started playing too far away or people approached too closely. She most enjoyed greeting the multitude of hikers who couldn’t get enough of her cuteness. Lots of tail wagging and animal crackers.
The trail to the creek is longer from the other side of the park. We never ventured to the nature center since it was closed due to the pandemic, but I’ve never met a disappointing nature center and would guess it mirrors the natural splendor of the preserve. Along this trail, we found a grand tree that made me think of Winnie the Pooh; I circled the tree, almost expecting to see the “Mr. Sander’s” sign hanging crookedly. John gave the kids a boost up so they could feel like princesses atop this regal tree. The tree looks much shorter in this picture due to my photographic angle.
There were hand carved benches made from logs in the woods. Two of them had been pulled close to the creek, but the rest were in a pile, obviously pulled away to prevent gatherings. Riley found “Smiley’s mother,” one of her “friends” during this pandemic. While we initially convinced her to leave the stick in its home, she later claimed it as a fancy walking stick which she painted for John on Father’s Day. We also found a smiling log where someone had left two rocks to complete the face.
One of our best finds was the Buttermilk Waterfalls. I think the word “waterfall” is a little generous, but this was still a unique, picturesque spot. The day we first decided to go to the falls, John took a picture of the map to the falls and we tried following it, but the trodden areas in the forest didn’t really match up with the direction we needed to go. It was like following a well-disguised treasure map.
Riley slipped and this time was literally hanging off the side of a ridge, holding on a tree root.
She still would have been ok (or I wouldn’t have stopped to take a picture), but her fearlessness is definitely getting her into riskier situations. We finally found a path that didn’t require us to tumble during our descent and climbed down to the shore. As we turned the bend in the creek, we saw some amazing houses on the hill with their own gazebo and wooden chairs at the creek’s edge. We quietly tried to slip past this area as we weren’t completely sure if it was still public land. Not too far upstream, we found the falls.
In this area, the water was a little deeper and the kids enjoyed swimming. There was some water falling over large rocks and a rope hanging down which we watched some teenagers climb to get to the forest trail at the top. We quickly established a no climbing rule as the stones here were just as slippery as everywhere else along this route. There was a campfire at the creek’s edge with logs around it. On my second and final trip to the falls with just the girls, there was a camp group enjoying the water. Despite the group, we still had plenty of room to play, swim and relax far away. Ginny also was a good guard dog, barking if anyone came too close.
Five star forest paths and loads of fun can be found in Asbury Woods. We enjoyed the Lake Erie area so much that we will definitely plan a trip back in years to come.
