Service & Maintenance Department

Mazurik Access
Located at 8957 North Shore Boulevard just north of State Route 163 (East Harbor Road). Amenities: Public boat launch, breakwall, fishing, restrooms.

Meadowbrook Marsh
Located at 8577 E. Bayshore Road one-half mile west of Dempsey Access. Amenities: Park benches, observation deck, paved biking/walking trails, grass and mulched walking trails along the prairie and in the forest. Scenic views of wetland marsh. Click here for a map of the walking trails.

In 2000 the Township Trustees made an unprecedented purchase of thirty-three acres of forest and brook area. Township residents Tim Nash and his late wife, Sylvia, graciously offered this property known as Meadowbrook to the Township at well-below market value. This natural preserve area is home to gulls, heron, geese, ducks, eagles, falcons and hawks, migrating waterfowl and songbirds, an assortment of water life and a variety of wildlife.

In December 2001, the Township secured a matching fifty-percent grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to purchase the wetland area of Meadowbrook that is adjacent to the current property. The Department of Natural Resources, The Ottawa County Soil and Water Conservation District and Pheasants Forever extended their full support of this acquisition. Funding for the prior parcel as well as the fifty-percent match for the wetland area was accomplished with the use of estate tax dollars.

In May 2007, the Trustees were awarded $221,787 from the Ohio Public Works Commission to purchase an additional forty-six acres of Meadowbrook property. Danbury Township provided a 45% match of $181,462 from estate tax dollars. With the Township's Meadowbrook holdings now reaching nearly 110 acres, a citizen team was gathered to create goals for developing approximately seventy-nine non-wetland acres into an accessible public park. The Trustees hired The Collaborative, Inc., a park-planning consulting firm, to assist with this project. Hiking and biking trails along with low-density recreational uses that could be enjoyed by the physically challenged were planned. This project has focused on protection of native plant species and wildlife while allowing the public to enjoy the pristine, natural atmosphere of Meadowbrook Marsh. The Board of Trustees is extremely proud to have made these three acquisitions with no expense whatsoever to the taxpayers.

During 2008 the Trustees were awarded three additional grants from ODNR for Meadowbrook. A $50,000 grant from the Office of Coastal Management, in conjunction with support by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was awarded for a 1,121-foot paved multi-use trail and eighty-foot-long pondside observation deck. $40,000 was awarded by Natureworks for a three-acre land acquisition and an additional $40,000 was awarded by Land and Water Conservation for construction of a 1,676-foot paved multi-use looped trail. Township matches for these three grants varied from twenty-five to slightly more than fifty percent. Also during 2008, the Ottawa County Community Foundation awarded the trustees a $1,500 grant which was used to purchase park benches. Natureworks also permitted part of their grant funding to encompass paving two ADA accessible parking spaces and a connecting paved ADA trail to meet up with the existing ADA trails. In 2010 the Clean Ohio Trails Fund (COTF) awarded $126,343 for 4,000 additional feet of ADA accessible paved trails in conjunction with a grant from the Recreational Trails Program in the amount of $43,317 to complete the project.

In January 2013, the Black Swamp Conservancy was able to obtain an additional eighty acres for Meadowbrook through a mitigation project. In turn, the township granted the Conservancy a conservation easement while still retaining ownership of the park. This partnership has been extremely rewarding and the size of the park now encompasses 198 acres. A substantial portion of the park is purposely inaccessible due to protected wetlands, nesting areas and natural marsh. Meadowbrook is now a designated State birding site and prime location to observe the spring warbler migration.

Two ADA-compliant paved parking spots are available with an access aisle at the main trailhead. Seasonal wheelchair-accessible bathrooms are adjacent to the main trailhead. An approximate one-mile loop circles the park and consists of eight-foot-wide asphalt trails and a twelve-foot-wide boardwalk in the canopied interior wetland sector. The paved trails are mostly flat with two areas that have a slight grade, both of which can easily be avoided by using shorter-length parallel paved trails. The eighty-foot-long observation deck provides excellent views of two eagle nests, a lengthy tree line where Bald Eagles perch for extended periods of time and an expansive view of the main marsh. The deck has a ramp and permanent benches. There are several other benches on the edge of the trails throughout the park plus a small shelter house and picnic tables located near the entrance of the lower main parking area. Most of these items were received through grant funding. Some of the benches were graciously donated by individuals.

For the past few years two Bald Eagle pairs have successfully nested on both the west and north shore of the large marsh. Great Blue Herons nest in the inaccessible phragmite islands near the eagles’ nests. A Great Horned Owl has sporadically produced one to two owlets. A Cooper’s Hawk nest is near the main entrance where the pair is seen frequently. With rare exception, nearly every migratory songbird, warbler and waterfowl that visits Northwest Ohio can be seen at Meadowbrook Marsh. There are times during spring migration when the number and diversity of warblers at Meadowbrook Marsh can rival that of any of the more well-known birding hotspots in the area.  Meadowbrook Marsh is Site Number 57 on the Lake Erie Birding Trail.

Designed for remembrance and reflection, Rainbow Ridge at Meadowbrook Marsh was dedicated by the township trustees in late November 2020. On Thanksgiving Eve 2019 a devastating fire occurred at African Safari Wildlife Park, a few miles to the west. Ten animals perished and a huge structural loss was incurred. The community came together to raise 100% of the funds for this memorial site which is located a short distance from the lower parking area.

Meadowbrook’s paved trails and intersecting grass and mulched trails are open to the public year-round from dawn to dusk. The Township does not permit hunting, motorized vehicles or horses in the preserve. Dogs must be kept leashed at all times.

Wolcott Cemetery
Located off Huron Trail (Next to 10011 Huron Trail) approximately one-half mile behind the Keeper's House (Wolcott House). This is the burial site of Benajah Wolcott and others. There is a small sign tucked in a tree line and a gravel lane leading back to the cemetery. The trail is narrow and bears to the right. Parking is available just behind the residential homes and walking back to the cemetery is encouraged due to limited maneuverability at the cemetery location for vehicles.