Hike F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm's Fernwood Trail

4 hours ago

4 min read

The Fernwood Loop at F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm is an easy 0.9-mile hike through one of Akron’s most scenic and historic natural areas. The trail winds through mature forest, crosses the Nature Realm’s iconic suspension bridge, and passes Echo Pond while revealing a landscape that was once largely open farmland. Today, the hike offers a peaceful escape within Summit Metro Parks and a fascinating look at how nature has reclaimed this corner of Akron.

Trail Info

Length 1 mile

Elevation gain 120 feet

Route Loop

Permit required No

Dogs allowed No

Trailhead elevation 1,028'

Water None filterable

Don't miss Sunrise at Echo Pond

Hiking the Fernwood Loop

The Fernwood Loop at F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm combines some of the park's best-known scenery into an easy 0.9-mile hike. Along the way, hikers cross the Nature Realm's suspension bridge, travel through a wooded ravine and wander beneath a forest canopy that makes it difficult to imagine that portions of this landscape were once open farmland. In fact, the forest surrounding Fernwood tells one of the most interesting stories at the Nature Realm: how a pair of former farms gradually returned to nature.

Before becoming one of Akron's best-known nature preserves, the property that makes up F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm consisted largely of two separate farms. The larger of the two was once associated with the Laughlin family and occupied the higher ground near the top of Smith Road, around the area where the visitors center and arboretum stand today. Much of the surrounding landscape was agricultural land rather than the mature woodland visitors experience today.

The property later came under the ownership of F.A. Seiberling, the Akron industrialist who co-founded the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with his brother Charles in 1898. Seiberling owned the land from 1920 until 1948. He was also instrumental in the creation and early development of the Akron Metropolitan Park District, which eventually became Summit Metro Parks, and his contributions to land preservation around Akron ultimately led to the Nature Realm being named in his honor.

Summit Metro Parks purchased the former Seiberling property in 1964, and F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm was dedicated two years later in 1966. Rather than developing the property primarily for recreation, the park district established the Nature Realm as a place for environmental education and the study and enjoyment of nature. It also became home to Summit Metro Parks' first nature center.

In those early years, the park district made use of buildings left behind from the property's agricultural past. Naturalists conducted educational programs from the existing barn and farmhouse, including an early program known as the "School of the Woods." As the Nature Realm became more established, the surrounding fields and former agricultural areas were gradually transformed through natural succession, tree planting and the development of gardens and other habitats.

The result is the landscape hikers see today. What were once fields have become forest, prairie, gardens and an arboretum, creating a patchwork of habitats within a relatively small area. The transformation is particularly noticeable when looking at historical photographs of the property, where areas now shaded by mature trees once stretched across open farmland. Summit Metro Parks has highlighted the Nature Realm as an example of how former agricultural properties within the park system have successfully returned to nature.

The Fernwood Loop provides an easy way to experience that transformation firsthand. The 1-mile trail is rated easy and shares a portion of its route with the shorter Cherry Lane Trail. One of the early highlights is the Nature Realm's suspension bridge, which stretches roughly 108 feet across a 45-foot-deep wooded ravine. Constructed in 1978, the bridge has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in the park.

After crossing the bridge, Fernwood eventually breaks away from Cherry Lane and travels deeper into the woods. Here, the crowds often thin and the Nature Realm begins to feel surprisingly secluded considering its location within Akron. Mature hardwoods shade the trail while small ravines and rolling terrain provide a little variety without making the hike particularly strenuous.

Eventually, Fernwood reconnects with Cherry Lane and leads hikers toward Echo Pond before returning to the visitors center. The combination of forest, water and the suspension bridge makes the loop a good introduction to the Nature Realm while providing a longer walk than Cherry Lane without requiring the hillier terrain found along the Seneca Trail.

The modern Nature Realm Visitors Center represents another chapter in the property's evolution. What began with nature programs held inside old farm buildings eventually developed into one of Summit Metro Parks' primary environmental education facilities. Today, the 10,000-square-foot center contains seasonal exhibits, children's play areas, live native animals, a gift shop and naturalists available to answer questions about local wildlife.

Outside, the surrounding grounds contain gardens, wetlands, observation decks, two ponds and a tall-grass prairie. Together with the forest, these areas make the Nature Realm much more than simply a place to hike. It remains an outdoor classroom, continuing the environmental education mission established when the park opened in 1966.

For such a short hike, the Fernwood Loop provides an interesting look at just how dramatically a landscape can change. The forest that surrounds hikers today isn't simply attractive scenery—it is part of the Nature Realm's history. Within only a few generations, former farm fields have become woodland, wetlands, prairie and wildlife habitat, turning what was once an agricultural landscape on the edge of Akron into one of the city's most peaceful natural areas.