Woodland Pond Traditional Cache

A favorite park to hike with our dogs but between mid April and mid October we stay away because of the tick problem, the BIG ticks. I monitored bluebirds here for a couple years and my record day was 16 ticks found. So, is this a Geocachers Paradise or what?

I wonder how many visitors have never discovered this semi secluded woodland/summer pond? Take a look at a "water table pond" and consider this; the level of the water you see is also the level of the water you don't see in the ground beneath your feet and in the entire area. In springtime the pond is noisy with frogs and if you can be stealthy in your approach, then stay still and quiet, you'll probably hear frog music. Lying along the edge, their camoed skin makes them extremely difficult to spot among the emerging spring growth. Summer brings a layer of duckweed, not to be mistaken for algae, on the ponds surface which helps to keep the water cool. Look for painted turtles sunning themselves on floating logs. Fall presents itself nicely here with the surrounding colors. In the wintertime you may be able to go out on the ice and play around. Try running, then sliding; When's the last time you did that? Clear some snow away and then look closely at the ice, make snow angels, look for small animal tracks in the nearby woods and try to take close-up photos of them. Use your imagination to experiment with nature photography in this appropriate setting and feel free to post your pictures here. Higher water in the pond increases the difficulty or may even make it almost impossible to retrieve the container, email me if you experience this problem.

Spicebush, a 5'-20' shrub and abundant in the pond area, was used by the indians and pioneers for making tea, medicines and other stuff; try to find one, scratch the bark and then take a whiff [scratching & whiffing are authorized at this location]. Learn more about Spicebush.

Twelve trees native to Northwest Ohio and occurring naturally in the area are located within 200' of the west side of the National Center for Nature Photography between the building and the pond. The species of each tree is identified on an easy to spot tag located on a lower branch off of the main tree trunk.

In April 1942, the park district inherited a piece of land valued at $93,000 from the estate of Arthur J. Secor. The property was not parkland, but a parking lot in Toledo at the corner of Jefferson and Huron streets. In his will, Secor left directions that proceeds from the land be used to develop or acquire parkland. Secor Metropark is not named for him, but for his parents, Joseph K. and Elizabeth T. Secor, per his wishes. The park district eventually sold the parking lot and used the money to develop the park that was once the homestead of Jacob Wolfinger, one of the county’s earliest white settlers. The land was also the former site of an arboretum and a nature center that generations of Toledo-area children visited to learn about the environment. The building is now the National Center for Nature Photography (Open Saturday & Sunday 12:00-5:00) and you probably parked in its lot.