Tinker’s Creek rises in northern Portage County and flows across a high plateau region of bays, swamps, and marshes before cascading through a deep gorge and entering the lower Cuyahoga River.

• Good opportunities for viewing waterfowl, heron, and beaver
• Spring wildflowers
• Parking lot
• Bulletin board
• 2.5-mile trail
• Observation deck

Tinker’s Creek State Nature Preserve lies amid thousands of acres of rich peat, swamp, and marshland. The nearly 786-acre preserve teems with a great diversity of plant and animal life. Nesting waterfowl and songbirds may be seen during the spring and early summer. Canada geese and wood ducks nest throughout the marshes and can be seen from the trails around the Seven Ponds area.

Beaver ponds dot the preserve and add to the diversity of plant and animal life by providing habitat for greater numbers of species. Whitetail deer, raccoon, mink, weasel, muskrat, and fox are some of the mammals frequently spotted along the trails. Among the reptiles and amphibians present are snapping turtles, water snakes, four-toed salamanders, and bullfrogs.

Even though it is located near a large metropolitan region, the Tinker’s Creek area has remained isolated from development and retains much of its pristine charm and, natural integrity.

Tinkers Creek State Park borders the nature preserve to the east. There is a separate parking lot for the state park off Aurora-Hudson Road.

As of summer of 2018, there is an error on Google maps. There is a marker for “Liberty Park” and large green area that appears to show park land between OH-91 and Liberty Road. Do not attempt to drive into the marked area off OH-91 as it is private land.

Long before Liberty Park was formed, humans in prehistory camped here, drank the clean, cold springs, and hunted game. Upon European settlement, trees were cleared for farming, but maples were spared for their sweet sap.

Today, the 1,908-acre Liberty Park is a unique partnership between the City of Twinsburg and the park district. The city manages the park’s 100-acre recreation area, including the playfields and playground. Metro Parks manages the remaining acreage, including three trails and the Pond Brook Conservation Area. Both areas are open from 6 a.m. to sunset.

Large trees exist on rock ledges and in wetlands within the conservation area, where fens and bogs are “protected” by poison sumac and swamp rose. Metro Parks has designated this a Low Impact Area, meaning mowing, trails, and other park improvements will be kept to a minimum. This protects the various species that live in the area’s wetlands and vernal pools.

Liberty Park harbors countless rare and endangered species, including Indiana bats, marsh wrens, ospreys, and bald eagles. Other creatures seen here include beavers, long-tailed weasels, dragonflies, butterflies, red-backed salamanders, wood frogs, and turtles. In July 2006, Audubon Ohio named Liberty Park an Important Bird Area.