10 Ohio Nature Centers Your Kids Will Love

Dr. James K. Bissell Nature Center • Rock Creek
Open exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October, this Ashtabula County center along the Grand River teaches little visitors about the region. Once a month, naturalists educate families on topics like butterfly gardening and archaeology. Children can get a close look at native birds at the viewing window and crawl through a life-size beaver dam. The more adventurous can take a peek at the center’s eastern massasauga rattlesnake, the only rattlesnake found in northern Ohio. nature.org

Ford Nature Center • Youngstown
Judge John W. Ford’s children gave this 1912-built stone mansion to Mill Creek Metro Parks in 1968. Four years later, it opened as the Ford Nature Education Center before being redeveloped in 2023. Kids will have fun at this 9,615-square-foot center that features a nature exhibit hall, bird observation room and living rooftop garden. Explore the center’s native wildflower meadow, which showcases over two dozen species of local flora and grasses, and the nearby two-story education building. millcreekmetroparks.org

Blacklick Woods Metro Park Nature Center • Reynoldsburg
Since 1978, this center’s wraparound windows have provided unobstructed views of a pond and wildlife among the park’s beech-maple forest. Little ones will love the nature center’s terrariums, wall of animal pelts, coloring sheets and sizable pond aquarium, which features several “animal ambassadors,” including turtles and fish. Invent a whole new world at the puppet theater before playing on a small-scale version of the Blacklick Woods Canopy Walk, which was added during interior restorations in 2025. metroparks.net

Salt Fork Eco-Discovery Center • Lore City
This Guernsey County nature center is among Ohio’s newest, celebrating its opening on Earth Day 2025. Families are greeted by a 7-foot-tall, chainsaw-carved Bigfoot, who acts as a guide through displays about ecology and interconnected relationships in nature. (Despite his size, Bigfoot wants to keep his environmental footprint small.) Kids can also crawl through a tunnel and check out the rainwater garden, one of the center’s many sustainable elements. ohiodnr.gov


Brecksville Nature Center • Brecksville
This historic nature center has remained virtually unchanged since the Civilian Conservation Corp. built it in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration-era trailside museum. (An adjacent educational facility called the Trailside Program Center was added in 2018.) Nestled in Cleveland Metroparks’ Brecksville Reservation, the rustic nature center provides animal encounters for little ones, including birdwatching from the center’s hickory rocking chairs and the opportunity to participate in seasonal opportunities like hand-feeding chickadees. clevelandmetroparks.com

Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center • Put-in-Bay
Take the ferry to this building full of educational stations, including an observation beehive, an exhibit on island geology and an interactive migratory bird display. The turtle pond is a favorite. It’s home to four shelled friends, a rock bass and bluegill, which can be seen on an underwater camera. View four murals from local artist Janet Steams; her latest acts as an “I Spy” game with 50 animals painted into an island scene. 255 Meechen Rd., Put-In-Bay 43456, 419/285-3037, lakeerieislandswildlife.com

Brukner Nature Center • Troy 
Namesake Clayton J. Brukner and his business partner E.J. “Sam” Junkin helped bring the aviation company that later became WACO Aircraft Co. to Troy in 1923. (At one point, WACO was among the nation’s leading civilian aircraft makers.) Forty-four years later, Brukner revealed plans for this nature center, which opened in 1974. Young visitors are welcome to borrow books from the Little Library to take along on their hikes, as well as view wildlife art exhibits and discover new species at the Tree-Top Bird Vista. bruknernaturecenter.com



Grange Insurance Audubon Center • Columbus
Covering an impressive 18,000 square feet, this expansive center opened in 2009 as part of a land restoration project by the City of Columbus, the National Audubon Society and Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks. Little ones can explore the indoor playroom outfitted with a climbing wall or pick up a pair of binoculars and an Ohio bird guide to search for species in the Important Bird Area. Make sure not to leave before meeting the center’s ambassador turtles. audubon.org/grange

Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park Nature Center • Galloway
After checking out the bison at this Franklin County park’s two enclosed pastures, stop by its interactive center to see natural and cultural history exhibits about the region. Kids quickly gravitate to the 53-foot living stream, which runs through the building’s displays and is well-stocked with the sort of fauna found in nearby Big Darby Creek. A short drive away, families can visit a 9-acre natural area where children can play alongside a creek, ravine and trees. metroparks.net

Trautman Nature Center at Maumee Bay State Park • Oregon
Located at the trailhead for the wetland-system boardwalk, this interactive center features a display of the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse as well as a kids area with a touch table and turtles, frogs and snakes that serve as ambassador animals. Stop by the wingspan-measuring exhibit to compare yours to that of a trumpeter swan, and consider attending a Birdy Brunch, where kids accompanied by an adult are welcome to help document and identify species to add to a citizen science count. ohiodnr.gov

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