The West Woods, Novelty OH

Nice park, great spot for a family picnic or party. Clean rest rooms nice trails for hiking beautiful ancient woods.

This is a gorgeous park. The several walking trails are not too long for our little ones 3 and 5 years old to enjoy. We loved catching frogs in the grass after a light rain shower cooled the afternoon down. My oldest son really loved spotting 7 turtles in the turtle pond.

I recently visited The West Woods for the first time to do some hiking. There is a beautiful air conditioned nature center building with some exhibits and very nice restrooms adjacent to a large parking lot. I hiked the Ansel's Cave trail which was a pretty steady uphill incline through the woods for about the first 20 minutes or more of hiking. There were also some steps involved before you finally reach the Sharon Conglomerate rock outcroppings. A plaque gave some information about the rock formations. There was also a scenic Creek nearby and a little wooden bridge and small boardwalk area near more of the outcroppings then the trail continues uphill with additional steps which were somewhat steep, so this would not be a great hike for folks with mobility issues. The trail continues through the woods and then loops back toward the park driveway and nature center area. I also did some hiking on the trails near the nature center area, and those were an easier hike. I definitely recommend bringing some water with you if you are hiking to the rocky outcroppings since a lot of it is uphill. This park is located near the border of Newbury and Russell but it was definitely worth the trip.

I love going to West Woods! It's close to home, the trails are awesome, and they have a Little Library location!

I walked the Pioneer Brindle trail. Good, long woodsy trail for the most part. There are some steep hills at times and a portion that runs along a noisy road but otherwise me and dog loved it.

Booked the Affelder House for son's graduation. Great building with air conditioning, 2 bathrooms, fridge, sink and microwave. Plenty of seating inside and out on the patio with plenty of walking trails.

My family rented the Affelder house for a celebration and it was really nice! Highly recommend for cook out type get togethers

Great place to learn all about native everything in Geauga County. Has a nature museum with Some live species avaliable. Trails have lots of plant identification signs, etc.

The brook trout stuff is super cool.

Great few hours for family or solo nature enthusiasts.

Beautiful Geauga Co Metropark with both horse trails and hiking trails. Several nice reservable outdoor picnic shelters

Nice trails clean park for evening walk Birds & Wood frogs making lots of noise before sunset

Great hiking trails! Wonderful show in the center on going now! Will back in the summer and falls to see the colors!

Love going here. From the nature center to Ansells' Cave. Plus, all the events. It's just a great place.

The naturalist was welcoming, knowledgeable, and generous in sharing and answering questions.:)

Westwood in Geauga county is quite nice. Fun trails and scenery. Looking forward to more spontaneous adventures.

Excellent park. We come here to ride the bridle trails. The main loop is about 45 mins at a steady walk with 3 side trails if you want to add on to the ride. Horse parking is close to the park entrance, fully paved. On weekends non-horse people park all over the horse parking, making finding space difficult, but usually there's plenty of room. Trails wide and well maintained. Some rolling hills, a few bridge crossings, mostly in the woods.

Really nice hiking trails. Did the Ansel Cave loop. I was really bummed that the Ansel Cave was closed because of the WNS with the bats. Was really looking forward to seeing it. Ansel Falls did not have water but it was still really pretty.

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This park is a gem among many others in Geauga County, OH. Take the Ansel Cave Trail and enjoy spectacular views of a creek running between lichen-covered ledges. The cave itself is not much of a cave but more of a fissure surrounded by the rocks. The trail is not too crowded (we visited in October). A surprising benefit is a dense tree canopy - raining didn't feel too bad. Pavilions are mostly empty and make a great place for a small picnic.

Hiked to Ansel's cave, Beautiful! Not all level but not bad. If do long side of loop in the Fall can get tricky to see trail with leaves, just follow the roots sticking up. Make sure to take the time to visit ASM HQ next door!