The Shoreline Trail at Portage Lakes State Park is a peaceful, easy walk along the edge of Turkeyfoot Lake, southwest of Akron, Ohio, and it's the kind of trail that rewards a slow pace and a pair of binoculars. True to its name, it stays in sight of the water for a good portion of its length, threading a beautiful beech-maple forest with the lake glinting through the trunks. It's flat, it's shaded, and it's remarkably quiet for a trail this close to a city.

The forest itself is worth the trip. Beyond the beech and maple, the trail passes through pockets holding genuinely unusual plants for Ohio, including northern tamarack, a deciduous conifer that drops its needles each fall, and skunk cabbage in the wet ground, which is among the first plants to emerge each spring. It's a botanically richer walk than a lakeside stroll has any right to be.

Birding is the standout activity. The lake and shoreline draw ospreys, cormorants, diving ducks and hooded mergansers, and the mix of water and mature forest means the species list runs long through migration. It's also popular with anglers working the shoreline. One of the trail's charms is how few people you'll encounter; solitude is easy to find here.

Reported trail lengths vary, with some sources describing a roughly 5-mile route rated easy to moderate and others a shorter out-and-back of under a mile and a half, which reflects the fact that the park holds nine hiking trails that interconnect and can be walked in different combinations. Checking the park map at the trailhead is the simplest way to build the walk you want.

Portage Lakes State Park is day-use only, but it's a busy and well-equipped one, offering paddling and swimming on the lakes, numerous picnic shelters, an excellent disc golf course and that network of hiking trails. February through November is the recommended window, with spring migration and fall colour the two highlights.

Bring binoculars, insect repellent for the wet woods in summer, and shoes that can handle mud after rain. There's no fee. For an easy, shaded, bird-rich walk along a lake in a beech-maple forest, minutes from Akron, the Shoreline Trail is one of the more restful things you can do with an afternoon in northeast Ohio.