On the Waterfront

Last Thursday I visited another local park which I had never seen before... the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve.  This piece of land took form as a landfill where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dumped sediment from dredging the port of Cleveland along the Cuyahoga River.

 This aerial photo from 1979 shows how an area of the lake was walled off to be used as an area for dumping sediment.

After the landfill operations ceased, nature took over on the eight acres of newly created land.  It was noted that more than 280 species of birds frequented the area, many of them migratory birds using the former landfill as a stopover.  In 2011, the Port Authority of Cleveland designated the site as a nature preserve, and the following year it was opened to the public.  The area is fenced off, and visitors enter through a turn style gate.

Looking at the map at the entrance, I decided that I would walk the 1.6 mile Perimeter Loop Trail which would give me views of Lake Erie.

Naturalists have striven to maintain the preserve with native species of plants and to remove non-native, invasive species.

Soon the lakefront came into sight.

Nearby is the Gordon Park Marina, and in the distance you can see the skyline of downtown Cleveland.

Pleasure craft returning to the marina

Other than the trails, some trail signs and a few benches, the area is left in its natural state.  However at one edge of the preserve this deck has been built from which you can enjoy the view.

Zooming in with my camera on the Cleveland skyline

I continue my walk around the preserve.

Some people who are not familiar with the Great Lakes Region are surprised by how large the lakes are.  You cannot see across them to the opposite shore.  Some years ago when my cousins from England came for a visit, they referred to Lake Erie as "the sea".   Fifty seven miles to the north is the shoreline of Canada.

As I near the end of my circular hike, I have views of the lakefront looking in the opposite direction.

You can see some of the shoreline mansions of the village of Bratenahl, an affluent suburb which is surrounded by Cleveland on three sides.

One of the small silver linings of this terrible pandemic is that, since I am unable to travel, I am visiting nearby places that I had not seen before.