Ohio

Photo credit: Cleveland MetroParks

The Trust for Public Land is working to create great Ohio parks and natural areas—and make the ones we have better. We are improving the quality of life for all Ohians by creating trails and greenways to strengthen our connections to nature, recreation, and each other. We protect both wilderness and urban parks—from Lake Erie shorefront, to the Towpath Trail and Cuyahoga-Lake Link, to dozens of properties added to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Our work is safeguarding the state's natural, recreational, cultural, and agricultural resources and promoting park equity for future generations.

Local offices

Cleveland

1250 Old River Road, Suite 202 | Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Phone: (216) 928-7518 | Email Address: ohio@tpl.org

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News/Articles

The Economic Benefits of Metroparks Toledo

The Economic Benefits of Cleveland Metroparks

Highlighted Projects:

Cuyahoga-Lake Link

The first segment of the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail, the "backbone" of the Cuyahoga-Lake Link, was dedicated in August 2015. Soon Northeast Ohioans and visitors will be able to ride their bikes along the beloved Towpath Trail from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park all the way to Lake Erie.

Fitness Zone exercise area, Cleveland, OH

Cleveland Fitness Zone areas

In Cleveland, The Trust for Public Land worked with Saint Luke’s Foundation and the Healthy Eating & Active Living (HEAL) initiative to bring three Fitness Zone® areas to the east side communities of Buckeye, Larchmere, and Woodland Hills.

Glen Helen Nature Preserve

Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio had been saved many times from development before TPL stepped in to help Antioch College forever preserve this resource.

Advancing Park Equity in Cleveland

Parks are not perks — they are essential infrastructure for healthy, connected, equitable, empowered communities. And because not everyone has equal access to nature, we’re working first with communities that have historically been denied green space — among so many other kinds of social capital. The Trust for Public Land, in partnership with the City of Cleveland, released research that will help the city prioritize building and improving parks in the neighborhoods that need them more. The findings also illustrate the economic benefits these additional parks could have for the community.

Bear Swamp Preserve

Already home to nearly 200,000 residents, Medina County is one of the top ten fastest growing counties in the State of Ohio. While good news for the local economy, this growth is threatening the area’s remaining wild landscapes and cutting off public access to its vibrant natural resources.

Blossom Music Center

In October 2011, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park—the tenth most visited in the United States—grew by 578 acres thanks to the efforts of The Trust for Public Land, the National Park Service and Blossom Music Center.

Camp Myeerah

When the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio decided to sell Camp Myeerah, they wanted to ensure that the new owner would still allow the land to be used for camping, nature education, and outdoor recreation.

West Side Trail, Ohio. Photo: TPL Archives

Chessie Circle Trail

Connecting three University of Toledo campuses and numerous parks and trail systems, the Chessie Circle Trail project will convert an 11-mile long railroad corridor into a hiking and biking trail.

Cleveland Fitness Zone areas

Climate Smart Cities, Cleveland, Sandusky

Climate-Smart Cities™ Cleveland and Sandusky

Through 2017 The Trust for Public Land will work with Cleveland and Sandusky communities to plan for investment in park and public spaces that both address climate challenges, human health, and other benefits. In Cleveland, for example, less than 25 percent of residents are within a 10-minute walk to a park. Improving stormwater management through potential park investments, while improving access to parks, is a win-win.

Colonel Charles Young House

We helped protect the historic home of Colonel Charles Young, first African American Colonel in the United States Army.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

With the assistance of Cleveland businesses and foundations, in 1978 TPL began securing lands for eventual federal ownership. In thirty years, TPL has completed more than twenty acquisitions for the park

Cuyahoga-Lake Link

East Sandusky Bay Nature Preserve

The Trust for Public Land worked with Erie MetroParks, the Sandusky/Erie County Community Foundation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Nature Conservancy to create the 1,283-acre East Sandusky Bay Nature Preserve for public use and enjoyment.

Fry Family Park

TPL and the Stark County Park District (Stark Parks) are working with a private landowner to permanently preserve this 323-acre resource for a public park

West Creek Preserve, Ohio. Photo: Ken Sherman

Gateway to Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The 90-acre Gateway Property contains the longest natural stretch of the Cuyahoga River within the boundaries of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, providing important wildlife habitat and resource protection.

Geneva Swamp Preserve

Through the efforts of The Trust for Public Land and The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, an environmentally sensitive and unique 394-acre tract in Geneva Township will be saved from future development and become the newest addition to the Museum's protected properties in the Geneva Swamp Lake Erie coastal wetlands system. The Geneva Swamp Preserve Property protects hundreds of acres of wetlands and forested uplands in the Lake Erie coastal zone.

Glen Helen Nature Preserve

Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio had been saved many times from development before TPL stepped in to help Antioch College forever preserve this resource.

Great Waters

"Ohio" is an Iroquois word meaning "great water," and its residents are fortunate to border one of the earth's largest lakes, and enjoy many rivers and streams flowing across the landscape.

Lake Erie Bluffs

In 2012, we conserved 139 acres at Lake Erie Bluffs, including habitat important to rare, threatened, and endangered plants and wildlife.

Lake Erie Shoreline

We are working to ensure that there is public access or privately conserved natural area along each mile of the Lake Erie shoreline in metropolitan areas, and every five miles in rural areas.

Photo of 3 people standing at the entrance of Little Hocking Cave

Little Hocking River Park

The Trust for Public Land and Belpre Township have protected the 67-acre Baker Farm property along the Little Hocking River in Little Hocking, Ohio. The property includes open fields, mature forests, a small stream, a cave, ponds, and approximately 800 feet of river access to the Little Hocking River.

Middle Bass Island, Ohio. Photo: Neal Hess

Middle Bass Island Preserve

The Trust for Public Land spearheaded the acquisition of this 7.8-acre island property with extensive migratory bird habitat and a large population of the Lake Erie watersnake.

Minshall Preserve

A few miles offshore of Cleveland in Lake Erie, Kelleys Island harbors rare wildlife, peaceful forests, and distinctive bedrock grooves carved by long-melted glaciers.

Ohio Heritage Lands

The Trust for Public Land is helping to create an infrastructure of parks and protected lands throughout the entire Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor.

Parks for People–Cleveland

TPL is working to increase parkland and trails to connect Cleveland neighborhoods with Lake Erie at Whiskey Island.

Parks for People–Ohio

In the state's metropolitan areas beyond Cleveland, we're providing places to play, connecting existing greenspace, and re-imagining the urban core of target cities.

Pond Brook

In 2010, The Trust for Public Land finalized the protection of 293 acres known as Pond Brook, located at the headwaters of Tinkers Creek in the Cuyahoga River watershed.

Port Clinton

The Trust for Public Land, in partnership with U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur and Ohio's congressional delegation, and the City of Port Clinton, worked to secure federal and state grants necessary to fund the acquisition and then turn the land over to Port Clinton.

Richfield Coliseum

At the request of local citizen groups and community leaders, The Trust for Public Land acquired the property, demolished the vacant arena, and transferred ownership to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Rivergate Park

The Trust for Public Land and the Cleveland Rowing Foundation are converting seven acres of commercial riverfront land into a vibrant new public park in the center of the Flats.

Silver Creek, Hiram College Field Station, Ohio

Sliver Creek

The Trust for Public Land helped Hiram College protect and expand the land around the James H. Barrow Field Station, a center of research and environmental studies.

Spring Hill Farm

When Ebenezer Sheldon, a former Revolutionary War soldier, settled in Aurora in 1799, he set up his homestead on the 153 acres known today as Spring Hill Farm.

Springfield Bog

Ohio's Springfield Bog is characterized by distinctive kettle bog wetland habitat, so in 2009 when the 256-acre property was targeted for development as a large subdivision, conservationists got busy.

Steiner Woods

Students at the University of Akron use the Steiner Woods property for a long-term amphibian research study and have documented 13 species of salamander that use the extensive wetlands during breeding season.

Summit Lake Park

Once a recreation and entertainment destination, Summit Lake Park has become a vastly underutilized natural asset in recent decades. With the environmental state of the lake unknown and the underserved surrounding neighborhood, many residents avoid the area altogether.