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 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]