The posted coordinates will take you to the beginning of the
Adventure Walkway. There are two parking areas off OH-61 / Ceylon
Road that will bring you quite near to these coordinates. All the
information you will need to complete the cache will be located on
signs along the walkway, but beyond that are miles of trails to
explore and enjoy! Edison Woods can be very muddy seasonally, but
the Adventure Walkway boardwalk is, by design, very easy terrain.
The only difficulty I could anticipate is about 40 feet of gravel
from the designated handicapped parking in Lot B to the starting
coordinates.
From the middle of the 19th century into the first half of the
20th century, parts of Edison Woods were used for industrial
purposes. Sandstone and gravel were quarried here, and a huge kiln
produced bricks and tiles. Other parts of the park were formerly
used for farming. In the 1970s, Ohio Edison (later FirstEnergy) had
planned to build a nuclear power plant here. The power plant was
never built, and a diverse 1300 acre landscape became the Erie
MetroParks Edison Woods Preserve. The Adventure Walkway was
opened in 2005, complete with colorful interpretive signs to give
visitors a greater appreciation of the history of the park.
Long before the 19th century industry, however, natural forces
were shaping the earth around Edison Woods. Within the park, there
are two distinctly different elevations. The Adventure Walkway, on
the lower elevation, is in a region of shale bedrock. This region
runs from the northwest part of Huron County, through the middle of
Erie County, and along the Lake Erie shore to the Pennsylvania
border. At many Lake Erie beaches from central to eastern Ohio,
anyone who goes swimming will be looking at shale formations when
they come out of the water. West of this band of shale bedrock lies
a region of limestone bedrock, with an excellent view available at
Erie MetroParks Castalia Quarry Reserve. To the east lies an area
of sandstone bedrock.
Limestone, the bottom, oldest layer, and the shale in the middle
date back to a period of geologic history called the Devonian
Period. The sandstone on top is the newest layer, and was
formed during the Mississippian Period. (Some resources say that
this sandstone formed in the Devonian period. Geologic time periods
are millions of years long, so the borders can be fuzzy!) The older
layers were exposed by erosion along the Findlay Arch. The Findlay
Arch is a line running roughly north-south, from Toledo to
Springfield. Along this line, the rock layers rose higher than
those on either side. Then, the newer sandstone layers on top
eroded, or wore down, exposing first the older shale, then the even
older limestone layer.
Another significant part of geologic history in Edison Woods is
the glacial influence. Like 2/3 of the state of Ohio, this area was
covered by glaciers during the Ice Age. The bedrock formed in the
Devonian Period, which dates from about 415 million years ago to
360 million years ago. Relatively speaking, the glacial period was
fairly recent - - only one to two million years ago.
Glaciers covered the Edison woods area until they finally began to
recede around 15,000 years ago. When the ice melted, glacial Lakes
were formed, and the Adventure Walkway area was under water for at
least 3000 years. Melting "ice dams" eventually allowed the glacial
lake to drain to a lower level, forming our familiar Lake Erie
about 12,000 years ago.
In much more recent history, the Erie County MetroParks first
leased, and later bought Edison Woods from FirstEnergy Corp.
Efforts are being made to restore the environment of the bark to
the state it was in before it was used for industry and
agriculture. Part of the process involves restoring grassland areas
to a natural prairie habitat. Another project is restoring the
wetland areas. Past human activity has altered the flow of water in
the park, and the goal is to reverse these effects. Edison Woods
wetlands are a headwater to the Old Woman Creek, an important
wetland habitat at the border of the lake and the lakeshore.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS: In order to log this Earthcache, I
ask that you answer three questions based on some of the signs
you'll read while following the Adventure Walkway. Photos are not
required, but please post them if you have them!
Here's your quiz:
1 - How is natural water flow being restored in Edison
Woods?
2 - What were the names of the 3 major glacial lakes that covered
the Adventure Walkway area of the woods?
3 - Where did the raw materials and fuel for the brick and tile
kiln come from?
Logs that are not accompanied, within a reasonable amount of
time, by an email to satisfy these requirements will be deleted,
because that's the Earthcaching rule. Please don't make me have to
delete anything!
References:
Ohio DNR
website
Camp, Mark J. 2006 Roadside Geology of Ohio. Missoula,
Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company
Erie
MetroParks website (Thanks to the Erie MetroParks and Lois
TerVeen for allowing this Earthcache!)