Accessing the Museum’s Nature Preserves
For more than a century, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has been dedicated to the conservation and preservation of our region’s natural world. Over the decades, the Museum has protected more than 12,500 acres of pristine habitat—a “living collection” of Ohio’s natural heritage, to be preserved in perpetuity.
While it is the responsibility of the Natural Areas Program to steward and protect our preserves, we invite the public and researchers to experience them. Several of our preserves are open to the public during daylight hours for hiking, birding and nature observation, and passive recreation: Mentor Marsh and the North Kingsville Sand Barrens are open year-round, while Scheele Preserve on Kelleys Island is open during summer months.
The rest of our preserves are open to the public on field trips, which we offer year-round. We encourage you to visit through these naturalist-led hikes.
We limit access to the preserves for a number of reasons, including protection of sensitive habitat and the potential dangers of traversing these sites. In addition, we are mindful of human impacts on our natural areas; too much use can lead to overall degradation and the introduction of invasive species.
Museum-issued access permits are available for research and conservation purposes. Please contact Ken Schneider at kschneider@cmnh.org if you are interested in obtaining a permit to enter a Museum natural area.
Information about wildlife management on Museum preserves is available here.
