Hiestand Woods Park and Preserve Van Wert, Ohio October 2023

Hiestand Woods Park and Preserve I expect most of you to know I love to do Fall walkabouts and never have shied away from leaf peeping at any park or preserve be it big or small. As one would expect, some trees change early, while others are late. We’ve begun to see vibrant palettes of red, orange, yellow, and brown around our neck of the woods. While you frequently hear and view the palettes in larger parks, you seldom see the small gems such as Hiestand Woods Park and Preserve just off Hospital Drive in Van Wert, Ohio. A few years back this Preserve went through a renovation where new paths, boardwalks, and bridges were installed to improve accessibility for all who appreciate nature. We found this Preserve is home to a vast amount of deciduous trees and the trails are well marked and offer a great display of interpretive signage. My husband likes the blue trail as there is a maple that is turning a lovely shade of orange-red. I believe my favorite trail may be leaving the observation platform and heading west ( left) at the junction. The sunlight filtering through the trees along there is soothing and there are some interesting branch formations on the right side as you are nearing the southwest corner. You may choose to make a stop and join the many people who gather here to do a quick bit of leaf-peeping. But if you are not able here's over 4 minutes of video taken along the Hiestand Woods Park and Preserve Blue Trail in October 2023. Of Note: You will see my video move up and down a bit and some of that is to avoid taking images of the people we met along the path. The day we walked the trail there was also a man clearing another path with a leaf blower so that noise was picked up on the video and could be heard under our crunching of leaves

and the observation platform