Nature Center At Shaker Lakes — Attraction in Shaker Heights

I wouldn't say I hated the place. Perhaps for many people find it's beauty rewarding. They advertise on their website "UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCOVER NATURE". But what the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes does not promote or advise or indicate is that for people with pets the number of those opportunities is zero. No pets are allowed and you don't find that out until you get there. My comments are intended to encourage institutions like the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes as well as others like the Cuyahoga Valley National Park system plainly promote on their websites and their literature that pets are not welcomed. That way I won't take a day off of work to visit with my 12-pound dog . I won't invite friends and Families to join me and jump in the car like I do when I go to the Cleveland Metroparks leash in hand only to find out that I can't even park my car at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. Why can't these un-pet-friendly places post a Prohibition symbol, the red circle-backslash symbol with the dog in the middle? Post it in plainview on their websites and promotional literature. Then pet owners with know to either go somewhere else or leave Fido at home, and wouldn't waste their recreation time listening to park rangers and staff berating them about how unworthy they are to dare set foot in the park system's precious Nature Preserve. We may know the reasons for this prohibition. That amongst many naturalist the belief that all dogs will eat all squirrels if given the chance. And that walking one's dog is a primary reason for global warming. If only Park and Recreation systems that don't allow pets on their property or bikes on their trails or whatever other obstacles they insist on would tell the General Public about their foibles so that those who will be turned away won't come in the...

I love Shaker Lakes and their nature center so much. I've been here multiple times and it's such a good facility.

Inside, there's a gift shop with some great items. I ended up buying some maple candies and syrup. They have some live animals on site in homes inside and some nice toys and books for kids. Upstairs, there's a great area for bird watching with big windows and bird feeders right outside. They also had art from local artists on display last time I was there, and a nice book that anyone could write messages in. There is also a native seed library that you can take from if you talk to the naturalists on site. I think you can also donate seeds.

The building itself is made with a lot of eco-friendly materials, and they have a bunch of plaques that explain it.

The staff there are very kind and helpful. I asked them some questions about various fungi we saw at the park and they were able to provide us with some suggestions on what they might be.

For accessibility, there is a ramp that leads to the nature center. If I remember correctly, the doors also have a button that opens them for wheelchair users, though I am unsure if it works or not, as I have...

German/English German: Ein Beispiel für bürgerschaftliches Engagement. Bereits in den 60er Jahren sollte entlang dieses kleinen Flusslaufes wo sich heute dieser kleine Park befindet, eine Autobahn gebaut werden. Eine Gruppe älterer Damen setzte sich über einen sehr langen Zeitraum dafür ein, dass diese Autobahn nicht gebaut wird, sondern für die Bevölkerung ein naturnaher Park entsteht. Schließlich baute man ein Naturzentrum. Dieser Park liegt im Ortsteil Shaker Heights, ein sehr schöner Ort. Die Shaker waren früher einmal eine religiöse christliche Sondergruppe. Nach dem ersten weltkrieg wurde der gesamte Ort Shaker Heights auf dem Reißbrett entwickelt und von zwei Brüdern komplett umgesetzt. Da wurden also Straßen, Einkaufszentren, Kirchen, Wohnhäuser mit Mietwohnungen, und die großen Areale für die verschiedenen Einfamilienhäuser geplant und gebaut. Weil das dann im Wesentlichen nur ein Architekt machte, wirkt das architektonisch auch immer in sich sehr schlüssig. Ich kenne diesen kleinen Park noch aus meiner Zeit, als ich hier lebte 1990/1991 und nun war ich wieder einmal dort, weil natürlich einiges Neues entstanden ist. Der sehr kleine Park ist dazu da, echte Naturlandschaft zu zeigen, wie sie es hier einmal gegeben hat, bevor Menschen hier siedelten. Daher soll man auch nicht dort drin herumlaufen, sondern es wurden extra Holzstege gebaut, auf denen man sich durch das Gelände bewegen kann. Im nature Center wird Natur und Umland erklärt. English: A nice example of civic engagement. As early as in the 1960s, a highway was to be built along this small river where this small park is located today. A group of older women (and later on NGOs etc.) campaigned for a very long time for this hoghway not to be built, but for a natural park to be created for the population. The highway never became a reality but the park. Finally, a nature center was built. This park is in the "Shaker Heights" neighborhood, a very nice kind of middle class city with wonderful houses. The "Shakers" were once a religious Christian group in the USA. After the First World War, the entire town of Shaker Heights was developed on the drawing board and completely implemented by two brothers. So streets, shopping malls, churches, residential buildings with rental apartments, and the large areas for the various single-family houses were planned and built. Since essentially this was only done by "just one architect", the while city of Shaker Heights always seems very logical in itself from an architectural point of view. Just Cruising around in summertime with your windows down is a great kind of touristic experience. I know this little park from when I lived here in 1990/1991 and now I was there again, because of course something new has emerged. The very small park is there to show real natural landscape as it was here before people settled here. That's why you aren't allowed to walk around in there on the muddy ground, but extra wooden walkways were built on which you can move through the area. Nature and the surrounding area are explained in the exhibition in the...