Thu 12/21
You can pretty much count on all the local nature centers and park districts to have celebrations of the solstices. So if you’ll looking for something to do on the shortest day of the year, start there.
At Geauga Park District’s West Woods, stop by the nature center from 7:30-9:30. There you can join in a family-friendly exploration of where our contemporary holiday celebrations came from.
Indoors, enjoy cookies and hot cider, and hear seasonal music performed by the Pilgrim Brass Choir. Kids can make a lantern from a recycled water bottle and tissue. Outdoors, visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Solstice Traditions Trail, a candlelit forest hike; watch costumed performers do skits about solstice traditions in the stage area; and enjoy the warmth of a bonfire.
The event is free and no registration is required.
At the Cleveland Metroparks, you’ll find Solstice hikes taking place all day: at Lake Isaac at 2pm, at the Canalway Center at 3pm, and a Solstice stroll starting at Keystone Shelter at 6:30pm.
Come to the Summit Metroparks Ledges area in Twinsburg at 6pm where naturalist Becca Zak will lead a hike on the Bluebird Trail while sharing information about wildlife. Then there’ll be a bonfire, with storytelling, marshmallow roasting and hot chocolate. It’s free.
Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village also has an easy-paced, family, friendly winter Solstice hike teed up to look for nocturnal animals. Inside there’s a fire to sit by to warm up and the planetarium will have a program about the solstice. It takes place from 6:30-8:30pm with a fee of $8 per person.
4524 E 49th St, Cleveland, OH 44125
Twinsburg, OH 44087
Bay Village, OH 44140