When submitting eBird observations at Pearson Metropark, it is most helpful to start a new checklist for each hotspot in the Metropark. Use the general hotspot when you have a checklist that includes multiple locations or if no other hotspot or personal location is appropriate for your sightings.

Pearson Metropark is a stop on the Lake Erie Birding Trail.

From birding to baseball to picnicking and fishing, there’s something for everyone at Pearson. This Metropark is one of the last remaining stands of the Great Black Swamp, a forest that once blanketed much of northwest Ohio. Activities abound. And examples of work done by the depression-era programs are all around you.

Purple cress, spring beauties, trillium, wild ginger, and wild geranium bloom in spring. The thick woods and location close to Lake Erie make Pearson a favorite stopover for a wide variety of migrating birds. Buildings, shelters, bridges, ponds, and a garden with a waterfall were built by workers enrolled in the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps.

Activities and attractions include baseball diamonds, soccer fields, tennis courts, fishing, a playground, ice skating and sledding, and the Black Swamp Cabin.

About three miles of trails crisscross this 624-acre park, trails that often provide remarkable access to the best birding anywhere. Millions of migrating birds cross Lake Erie each spring and fall, often massing on the shore when conditions for crossing are unfavorable. Forest birds nest here in the summer and the feeding station at the Nature Center attracts flocks of birds for the winter, making Pearson a year-round birding destination.

Pearson Metropark Trails
About three miles of trails crisscross this 624-acre park; trails that often provide remarkable access to the best birding anywhere. Millions of migrating birds cross Lake Erie each spring and fall, often massing on the shore when conditions for crossing are unfavorable. Forest birds nest here in the summer and the feeding station at the Nature Center attracts flocks of birds for the winter, making Pearson a year-round birding destination.

Exercise Trail – 2.9 miles round trip
Black Swamp Trail – 1.3 miles round trip
Black Swamp Trail Short Loop – 0.8 miles round trip
Wood Thrush Trail – 1.3 miles round trip
Yellow Trail (north side) – 0.56 miles round trip
All-Purpose Black (north side) – 2.56 miles round trip
All-Purpose Brown – 3 miles round trip
Starr Avenue Bikeway Trail – 1 mile one-way trip