The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
BEST OF THE BLUFFS SHOWCASES NATURE
Lake Metroparks includes wildlife presentations
Lake Metroparks presented its fourth-annual Best of the Bluffs event Aug. 19 at Lake Erie Bluffs in Perry Township.
This year’s installment, dubbed “Best of the Bluffs: A Natural Beach,” included wildlife presentations, trail-cart rides, self-guided and naturalist-guided hikes throughout the trails of the property’s 592 acres of natural wilderness.
The event, which ran from 1 - 4 p.m. Aug. 19, focused on the natural beach, which is the zone from the water’s edge to the edge of the bluffs. The actual bluffs are the cliffs that
face Lake Erie that create sunny habitats for rare plants such as fringed gentian and Oakes evening primrose.
Although many visitors to Lake Erie Bluffs didn’t even realize there was a planned event going on, they all seemed to enjoy it as well as the landscape where it played out.
Take Independence residents Alice and Tom Liptak, for example. The couple said they happened upon the park while on a Sunday afternoon mission to score some local peaches at nearby West Orchards Farm Market.
They saw signs for the park and thought they’d come check it out.
“It’s kind of nice. Actually, it’s beautiful so far,” Tom said about five minutes into the couple’s selfguided hike along the trail leading from the park’s Lane Road entrance to the park’s 50-foot observation tower near the Clark Road entrance.
Another pair of hikers who happened upon the event – Willoughby Hills resident Ken Bryda and his son, Jake – were simply out for a Sunday hike when they found themselves in the middle of the Best of the Bluffs.
“This is the second time I’ve been here,” Ken said. “I wanted to bring (Jake) because he likes to take pictures and there’s a nice variety of scenery here.”
He added it’s a great place for birding, although it’s kind of the off season for that particular pursuit.
Jake said he and his dad do a lot of hiking around the area and were glad to add Lake Erie Bluffs to their list.
“This is my first time here. It’s pretty cool,” said Jake, a fourth-year student in Kent State University’s architecture program. “We go all over Northeast Ohio hiking and this is kind of like Headlands (Beach State Park in Painesville Township) but is a little more diverse in that it’s got the beach, plus the woodlands and the bluffs.”
Down by the shoreline, one Mentor family who did come to Lake Erie Bluffs Aug. 19 specifically for the Best of the Bluffs event, agreed it was a worthwhile way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
“We’ve liked it,” said Melanie Debelak, who came to the park with husband, Bryan, and four-year-old son, Dominic, following a positive experience at Lake Metroparks’ River Jamboree event July 15 at Hidden Valley Park in Madison Township. “We registered a while ago because we enjoyed the (River Jamboree) so much and thought
“Just seeing that live-animal display was great. It was an impressive presentation and the level of organization (Lake Metroparks) obviously put into this is really impressive. Plus, it’s just, I think, a really unique experience. You get to be out here in nature and get a little bit of knowledge, see an area you might not otherwise... It’s pretty neat.” — Bryan Debelak, Mentor
it was a really great time. So, because we had so much fun at that, we thought we’d come to another Lake Metroparks event.”
She said her family time is at a premium, so it’s important to her to be able to engage in fun, familyfriendly events when she’s not on the clock.
“I’m a mom that works full time, so I’m always looking for stuff to do nights and on weekends,” she said, adding that she’s a member of a Facebook group that shares such happenings.
Both Melanie and Bryan said they – and Dominic – especially enjoyed the liveanimal demonstration at Best of the Bluffs, which featured a falcon and a buzzard.
“We thought that was great because those are things we don’t get to see, up close and in person, every day,” Melanie said. “Plus, there were a bunch of families and kids here... It was just a nice, fun event.” Bryan concurred. “Just seeing that live-animal display was great,” he said. “It was an impressive presentation and the level of organization (Lake Metroparks) obviously put into this is really impressive. Plus, it’s just, I think, a really unique experience. You get to be out here in nature and get a little bit of knowledge, see an area you might not otherwise... It’s pretty neat.”
One of the unique fixtures of Lake Erie Bluffs is the fact that Lake Metroparks tries to leave the shoreline as pristine and untouched as possible
For example, at their base, waves pile up heaps of driftwood. People often wonder why the Metroparks don’t “clean” the beach and remove the driftwood, but the wood helps stabilize the shore and provides shelter for plants and animals such as inland beach pea and Fowler’s toads, the news release about Best of the Bluffs states.
That kind of detail seemed to impress one Geauga County couple who said they were in Lake County for their grandson’s baseball game and thought they’d make a detour to the park to check it out.
“This is a first-time visit,” said John Neal, who was accompanied Aug. 19 by wife, Kathy. “We stopped by because we saw a brief article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the Lake Metroparks and the program.”
Both agreed it was a worthwhile excursion.
““It is beautiful,” Kathy said, adding they’d just been up in the observation tower. ““I like how close you can get to the beach and the fact that it’s so clean and beautiful.” John concurred. “We’ll have to come back another time at sunset and catch the scenery at that time of day,” he said, clutching his digital SLR camera.
Event organizer Andy Avram, an interpretive manager with Lake Metroparks, said that kind of interaction with the park is exactly what Best of the Bluffs is all about.
“It’s all about getting people out here and onto the trails and showcasing the park,’ he said, adding there were about 240 people who showed up for Best of the Bluffs 2018.
He said that’s an increase over last year’s event, which didn’t number 200 visitors.
“(This year’s event) went really well. It went off without a hitch and people really enjoyed themselves and the park,” he said, adding that the live animal presentations and trail-cart rides seemed to top visitors’ list of favorites.
He said there seemed to be quite a few first-time visitors this year, too.
“We had a lot of people who were kind of new to the park, along with quite a few who had been here before,” he said. “And there was a nice mix of age groups, too – from young people to seniors. A lot of the events we do are kind of geared toward younger people, so it was nice to see that age range represented here today.”
He said no matter what ages were involved, however, organizers were glad for the healthy turnout and that so many who were new to the park got a wellrounded introduction to it.
“We’re just happy to get people out to the parks and show them the land Lake Metroparks protects and preserves.”