Best Nature and Wildlife Areas in Cleveland

"Garfield Park Reservation is a charming public reservation in Cleveland's Garfield Heights neighborhood, originally opened in 1895 as Newburg Park after the city's purchase of three farmsteads near the city's southern limits. Today, it is home to a diverse array of urban wildlife, along with a number of structures that have been preserved from park development in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration. Since 1986, the park has been overseen as part of Cleveland Metroparks."

"Bedford Reservation protects a lovely National Natural Landmark gorge carved by Tinker's Creek, the largest tributary waterway of the Cuyahoga River. The reservation stretches more than 2,200 acres and showcases lovely waterfalls and waterway vistas, as well as forest habitats protecting mature trees and seasonal wildflowers. The Shawnee Hills Golf Course, contained within the reservation, is home to an 18-hole public course, a driving range, and a FootGolf course."

"Euclid Creek Reservation is best known as the former site of the famed Euclid Beach Amusement Park, which operated between 1895 and 1969 and was modeled after New York City's Coney Island. Though many of the park's amusement rides have long disappeared, it retains relics such as a shuffleboard area and remnants of the Flying Turns roller coaster. The park's southern area, divided by its namesake Euclid Creek, is located on the site of the ghost town of Bluestone, which popped up in the late 19th century as a result of quarrying activity."