Tag Archives: hiking spree

Oct12

Fall Hiking Spree

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Fall Hiking Spree

Hello! My brother, Andrew, and I are avid hikers and we just love exploring all of the beautiful Metro Parks that we are so lucky to live close to. Every year the Metro Parks host a fall and spring hiking spree and it is our time to shine! We are right in the midst of our fall hiking spree and have completed six out of the eight hikes needed to earn another shield for our walking sticks. The hiking spree offers a list of tons of hiking trails within a thirty or so mile radius and we always try to hit up the ones we have never been to before. It’s so exciting and we have found countless new favorite trails through the hiking spree process. The weather has been wonderful, the company is even better, and I can’t wait to hit the trails again!

A majority of people who live in Northeast Ohio would describe it as “boring” and most times, I have to concur lol. There is never much of anything going on! The hiking sprees, however, make me eat my words because how could all of that gorgeous scenery ever be boring?! Every time we begin a hike, I am in awe of the nature surrounding us. The tall trees, falling leaves, and wildlife are straight out of story books and we like to keep track of all of the animals we see on our adventures. During a recent walk along the water we saw twenty-two turtles! That might seem like a lot but it doesn’t come close to our world record hike of spotting fifty-five turtles, a beaver, a river otter, blue herons, and a million baby ducks all in one afternoon!

The fall hiking spree is, truly, our most beloved adventure of the year and it’s so cool to visit places in Ohio that we have never been to before. It really opens up a whole new world! For example, we did some shopping at a store in Medina called Sweets & Geeks and I had a brain blast to find a Metro Park nearby to serve as our “pick your own” hike. We settled on Buckeye Woods and were astounded by its sheer enormity. There were soccer fields, baseball diamonds, playgrounds, and a seemingly endless amount of trails to trek on. The trail we selected brought us deep into the woods and there were already lots of crunchy leaves on the ground to stomp on. My favorite! If it weren’t for the hiking spree, we never would have known about the park and that is what it’s all about. Yeah, Northeast Ohio isn’t so boring after all. 🙂

Take a hike! Seriously, it will do you a world of good and you will feel fabulous afterwards. There is nothing better than finding brand new paths in your own backyard!

Do you hike often? What is your favorite trail? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May13

Spring Hiking Spree Success

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Spring Hiking Spree Success

Hello! The Metro Parks in my neck of the woods hosts a hiking spree every spring and fall and I love completing the challenge with my brother, Andrew. We will have a threepeat for the fall spree this year and just completed our second spring hiking spree this past Friday. Spring in Ohio has been really cold and rainy so we had to carefully coordinate our five hikes to avoid getting caught in a downpour! During our last hike, we actually got back into my car a literal minute before the rain started coming down and it was an epic ending to the spree. The rain was short lived and we got ice cream after it passed to celebrate! We also got to take home our little prize of a new pin to adorn our Metro Parks lanyards with:

Within a thirty mile radius of where we live, there are at least twenty different Metro Parks to visit and we are truly blessed. During the fall and spring hiking sprees, there is a list of ten or so that you can pick from and it is always fun to try out new trails. Andrew and I both love hiking in the woods and, sadly, we didn’t get to do any of those trails this time around. We would have been walking in a quagmire because of all of the rain! We stuck to paved hiking and biking trails to complete the spree and this ended up being a good thing. The three new to us ones that we hiked will be excellent ones to go to again if the weather isn’t behaving.

Because we were limited to the paved trails, we didn’t get to see much in the way of wildlife. That was okay, though, because the best part of hiking is spending time with my brother. Hiking is our favorite form of exercise and it honestly doesn’t even feel like a work out because we’re talking and joking the whole way through. I can’t tell you the amount of times in years past that we started a hiking spree as a family and never finished it. It is exciting to be on a spree streak with my brother and we are both really looking forward to our fall hikes. Fingers crossed that the weather will allow us to hike in the woods this time around!

In fifteen days we went on five different hikes to draw the spring hiking spree to a close. Here’s to many more years of wonderful walks and memories! ❤

What is your favorite way to work out? Do you go on hikes often? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct17

Fall Hiking Spree Success!

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Fall Hiking Spree Success!

Hello! There are countless amazing Metro Parks in the greater Akron area to hike, bike, and swim at. My brother and I try to visit one at least once per week as hiking is our favorite form of exercise. Every year, the Metro Parks hosts a hiking spree in the spring and fall and we completed both of them for the first time last year. We have been most excited for the fall hiking spree to come back around again and finished the last of our eight required hikes this past Friday. It felt so awesome to set this goal, commit to it, and earn our prize: A new shield for our hiking sticks! Here is our newest 2025 addition:

The fall hiking spree runs from the first of September to the end of November and we finished our challenge in five weeks which is pretty good. In fact, it would have been earlier but your girl had to get her hair done! But that’s neither here nor there as we were just happy to finish the hiking spree before the weather got too chilly. During our hikes this year we visited new paths and old favorites. We enjoyed seeing the first changing colors of the leaves and lots of wildlife. On one of the hikes we saw SEVENTEEN turtles posted up across three different logs. It. Was. Awesome! We also viewed blue herons, frogs, and a tiny garter snake that I thought was a worm lol. 😀

Going on hikes with my brother is so much fun that it doesn’t even feel like exercise and I can tell that our regular walks and hikes our effective. Both of us have noticed a huge boost in our stamina and during one of our last hikes we didn’t even realize we walked over two and a half miles because it felt like nothing. The time together in the great outdoors is something I savor so much, especially with winter just over the horizon. When it gets too cold, we will continue our exercise in the gym. Until then, we will be squeezing in as many hikes at the Metro Parks as we can!

All we have to say is: Bring on the 2026 hiking season. We are already looking forward to three years in a row of completing the fall hiking spree!

Where is your favorite place to hike? Are there a lot of Metro Parks in your neck of the woods? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah