The Greater Cleveland area has a sprawling park system that extends into the neighboring cities called the Metroparks. Today I'd like to share one of my favorite locations in the Metros, the Rocky River Nature Center!
This is a great place for people of all ages, offering unique play areas, stunning hikes of varying difficulties, and an interesting dose of history.
Emory can show you the way, let's head into the woods!
This location has so much to offer, that these photos are from two separate trips to the nature center, spread a few weeks apart.
As you walk down the path, you can see the Rocky River below. It was fairly dry at the end of the summer here, so it's not as robust as some years.
The first part of the nature center you see is this fun garden. It is dedicated to supporting the local bee population, which is a theme which ties into the nature center itself.
There are several beehives in the area, and one even has a viewing area with an internal camera to promote education. We'll see that later on.
The unique design of this statue makes me smile, I like that the ants were not left out for their valuable contribution to the ecosystem!
There are vast gardens of wildflowers as you approach the main building, with a side path that loops through them.
The kids are always most excited to see this toad though. Every visit, we stop here so they can climb on it for awhile. Emory looks way spaced out here haha!
Just around the corner is the entrance to the nature center.
Only about half of the building you see is accessible to the public, the other half is home to the employees of the Metroparks, who work diligently to conserve the natural beauty here.
As soon as you walk in, this giant treehouse greets you. Both my five-year-old and my two-year-old love this play space!
Inside there is a loft filled with sensory toys, which has a few windows that look out over the rest of the building.
The loft room is to the right of this space, which features taxidermy with information about the animals in the displays.
There are plenty of places to sit here, with rocking chairs lining every available space. This is ideal on hotter days, when returning this way after a hike.
This window here looks out over a garden meant to support local birds, as well as the beehive I mentioned earlier.
You'll notice there are dots spaced out across the glass of this window, this is so that birds do not fly into it. To the right of this is a monitor which shows the hive activities up close and personal.
Not too far away is this sitting area, which hosts a beautiful fireplace that is lit in the colder months.
There are some kid sized chairs too, as well as activity centers. Emory likes to try each chair out when we visit.
Just around the corner is this massive fella, a replica of a Dunkleosteus. This ancient fish was a vicious bugger, spaning around 20 feet.
360 million years ago, there were a lot of them around what is now Cleveland. The shale rock of this area ended up being excellent at preserving their fossils, and some of the best specimens are from around here. One such is in our natural history museum.
There are also a few terrariums and fish tanks in the center, each providing some information on how it's occupant is important to the local ecosystem.
Turtles! Do I talk about turtles often enough on Hive? Well, I think I do only 2-3 times a month, so probably not. I need to pump those numbers.
All of these various enclosures provide a fun way to talk about nature with little ones!
But enough of the indoor portion, let's go take a hike!
You can catch this view from the nature center's balcony before going off to explore one of the numerous trails that surround this location.
This signage here outlines the different routes available. All of the paths loop back together though, so it's fine to just wander on without glancing at this sign.
These rocks display a quote from John Muir, “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
As you walk along, the wetlands in this area are visible to the left.
Eventually you come to a steep staircase. You can either walk up, or continue on to get emersed in the wetlands. The kids skipped ahead, they always want to take the stairs!
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As you climb, you begin to get a wonderful view of the surrounding woods. Built to look over this split in the river, this staircase always makes me notice something new about this nature reserve.
Up up up we go... Pictured here is the side of the Rocky River Gorge.
Then we reach the top. You can see for miles up here, it's a lovely place to enjoy a sunset.
At the top, we find some Ohio history. Long ago, Native Americans had a thriving village here.
This sign commemorates the legends surrounding this hilltop spot, as well as providing some information on the mounds you can see around here. Most Ohioan tribes buried their dead in mounds, and this is one such location that has been preserved.
Not too far away is another sign that addresses the massive fluctuation of water levels in the Cleveland area, and how they shaped the rock formations you can see throughout the park system.
Once you've conquered the 300 some stairs, the going is easy. If you follow the main path, it eventually loops back down and around to the main parking area.
These snaps that were taken on the secondary visit to the nature center are some of the only ones I managed to capture of the fall colors this year.
This is a gorgeous spot during the fall, but unfortunately, I was sick for much of the season. So, I'll hold on to these.
Eventually you come to this stone staircase that leads back downhill.
As you walk along, you find yourself in the portion of the wetlands that you end up in if you walk past the staircase from earlier.
I was excited to get some golden hour snaps of this portion of the park. There is something so enchanting about walking out of this Metroparks at sunset!
There are several boardwalk paths through the wetlands, my kids always get excited by how their shoes sound when they run on them!
These boardwalks are really cool because they give you a chance to catch a peak of some lesser seen Ohio wildlife without disturbing them.
This trip was right at the edge of full-on autumn, the contrast between the vibrant green that's holding on and the reds and oranges brings me joy.
Soon we were back to the parking lot. I grabbed these last few snaps as we headed out.
If you find yourself visiting Cleveland Ohio, I certainly recommend visiting any part of the Metroparks system, but if you have little ones, the Rocky River Nature Center is a must see! I hope you enjoyed exploring with us!
