Let’s Move Outside! on Fairview’s Pleasant Ridge Park Trail
It had been about a month or so since we marked our first hike in the Let’s Move Outside! Erie County Recreational Passport. We had started with the Millcreek Greenway Trail and thoroughly enjoyed it, but the summer had started to get away from us, so we’re fortunate that the 10 trails can be completed over a 20-week period, from June 1 to October 20.
Nutmeg and Nora, our two Cairn Terrier rescues, seemed to know that adventure was forthcoming when we leashed them up and loaded them into the car on a pleasant Saturday evening. Due to their fighting history, whenever we take them anywhere in the car, Jim drives, I sit in the middle of the back seat and the pups perch on either side of me. Well, that is, until one or both try to sneak their way into the front seat. There’s at least one growling, snarling episode during each outing, which has the potential to turn into a vet-required flesh ripping, so the leashes come in handy when trying to separate two irritated Terriers.
Well, let’s talk about the trail, shall we? Fairview Township is about 20 minutes west of where we live in Millcreek, and the Pleasant Ridge Park Trail, at 1.5 miles, can easily be combined with the Washington Township—Veterans Memorial Park/Wainer Park Trail, which is also 1.5 miles long and located only about 20 minutes away from Pleasant Ridge. We determined this combination based on the comprehensive spreadsheet that Jim had constructed before our first hike, a spreadsheet I had thought to be overkill before I saw it in action.
Pleasant Ridge Park contains a baseball field, picnic facilities, and a wooded hiking trail. On the day we visited, we heard music upon exiting the car and saw that there was a moderately sized crowd assembled, sitting in lawn chairs and sprawling on blankets. The entertainment was live, and we saw a Let’s Move Outside! tent, so we stopped by and picked up some buttons, which can probably be presented for the vendor discounts that have been negotiated in each participating town or township.
Soon after we got onto the Pleasant Ridge trail, we were faced with several different paths, and found that the Passport map isn’t exactly drawn to scale. Still we managed not to get lost, although there was a period of uncertainty until we found the trail marker. Turns out that Jim is pretty good at spotting these markers, and I have a tendency to walk right past them.
The Pleasant Ridge Trail contains a large field of swaying vegetation, dark woods, and a small, storybook-looking bridge. Toward the end of the trail, we came upon a group of adolescents and adults trying out a natural swing made from a thick vine.
The trail was easy as the Passport advised, and when we exited the woods, we still had plenty of energy to tackle the Washington Township—Veterans Memorial Park/Wainer Park Trail before dark.
Corry—Corry’s Trail of Simple Pleasures
Erie—Perry 200 Commemoration Trail
Fairview Township—Pleasant Ridge Park Trail
Harborcreek Township—Harborcreek Community Park Trail
Millcreek Township—The Greenway Trail
North East—North East Heritage Path
Union City—Union City Area School District Trail
Washington Township—Veterans Memorial Park/Wainer Park Trail
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