Hi, and wow,

I'm impressed by the interest in this great addition to Holden. So many
questions I will try to address in a general post rather than individually.

First as David and Brian point out, I got the date of opening to the
general public wrong. It is MONDAY September 14.

Hours of operation are 9 am to 5 pm daily weather permitting.  The tower
will close for the season on November 1st.  If you have a group who would
be interested in the tower and walkway contact Holden Visitor services at
440-942-4400 to make arrangements and ask questions.

The tower is an open structure.  The stairway starts on the outside and
when you get to the tree tops the stairs move inside the main supports.
The trees and then the supports always provide a feeling of being inside.
There are 200 steps and 4 or 5 intermediate platforms where you can stop.
These are very interesting because they provide a view of different canopy
levels from the understory to the tree tops.  The top of the tower is about
30 feet above the treetops so you look down into the trees.   The platform
right below the top offers great views of everything without the open
feeling of the top.  From the platform just below the top to the top
platform there is a center spiral staircase. Some people don't like those,
and they will be fine on the immediately lower level.  The decking is an
open grate structure with embedded grit and so offers very very secure
footing.  The decking has a load rating of 100 pounds per square inch and
so does not move or flex at all underfoot.

At the very top you may notice a slight sway.  This is designed in and you
get used to it very quickly.  There is a 4 foot high rail all around that
has a mesh covering hildren can easily see through. The railing cants
outward about 10 degrees but it all provides plenty of handhold and feels
very secure.

For the truly acrophobic, the tower may prove troublesome.  My suggestion
is to go up until you start to feel uncomfortable .  I have one friend who
does not even like the look of the tower. But has no trouble with the
canopy walk

A few other details about the tower before talking about the walkway.  As
mentioned previously the tower is 120 feet tall or above ground level.  The
top of the tower is 1106 feet mean sea level.  On a clear day looking
roughly north the horizon on lake Erie is about 28.27 miles away.  From the
Northeast to the West Northwest, the distance you can see is largely
limited by surrounding higher elevations which are often higher than than
the tower itself.  The shore of Lake Erie is 8 miles from the tower at the
nearest point.

As I may have mentioned, the tower offers an amazing view of unbroken and
unfragmented forest unlike you what will find in a metropolitan area of
more than 3 million people outside of Kirtland.

The canopy walkway is much lower than the tower and is wheelchair
accessable.  The walkway consists of 3 suspension bridges which go over a
branch of Piersons Creek, that cuts a ravine.  The height of the walk and
the depth of the ravine put you into the forest canopy without having to
climb much at all. Again the rails are about 4 feet high and have a mesh
that children can see through easily but not get though.  From a birding
perspective the walk way has more potential I think as it puts you right
into the level of forest dwelling species.  The bridges have no noticeable
bounce and minimal sway.

Overall Holden has done a fantastic job of making both structures
accommodating and extremely safe.  The total project cost was, as I recall,
over $2 million.  So these are first rate structures of the highest
standard as you would find at National Park.

Kirtland is very accessible from everywhere.  Holden is only about 28
minutes door to door drive time from downtown Cleveland.  Two exits on the
I90 are just a few miles from Holden so you will only spend about 10
minutes getting there once you are off the interstate.

I hope that covers all of the questions.

Haans

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