Mallard Perimeter Route

Dogs Off-leash

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

This can be run, I often jog it in sections, but you need to keep a close eye out for animal holes in the grass sections of the system.

This is a really nice grass and gravel route around the Wilderness area that is bordered by Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge, Maumee Bay and Maumee Bay State Park.

There are two parking lots on Cedar Point Rd. That will be the only wet area to navigate if the grounds are wet. You can head West or East along the road until you get to where the dikes comes up to the road to access the walls and stay dry the entire trip though.

As noted in the Restrictions section, this is a public hunting/trapping/fishing area so be mindful of the seasons when you travel through the area.

This must be said, the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge to the North and East is ONLY accessible with permits through the NWRS (link below, a great option during birding season), it is a federal mandate so do not step foot in the waters or "explore" down the dike walls to the East or North of the denoted trail. There are plenty of white signs along the way to identify the border. The dike wall along the border is technically refuge property but any conversation with the federal law enforcement officers recently have proven that ~5 years ago permission was granted to the State to allow better access to the Mallard Club by permitting users to have access to these border structures. The ODNR has not updated their note on the map (also linked below) to reflect this, but I have been assured it is so, just do not pass the white refuge signs.

As for the view, it's undeniably awesome. On any given day you could see thousands of ducks and geese in flight, deer, beavers, muskrats, turtles, snakes, songbirds...almost like it is a wildlife area or something. The marshlands flora is well maintained, except for the ever present invasive Phragmites.

Hope you all enjoy this little gem.

wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/mallar…

fws.gov/refuge/Cedar_Point/…