Autumn is just beginning, and so are all the exciting opportunities to get outside with Geauga Parks District.
On Saturday, Oct. 10, you’re invited to the Park District’s Fall Fest at the Swine Creek Reservation. This event will help you and your family celebrate the start of autumn, with fun including horse-drawn wagon rides, face painting, and kayaking. You’ll also have the chance to try fishing, play in the corn box, enjoy balloon art, and sample treats including s’mores. The event kicks off at 3 p.m., when the Maple Highlands Trail will be officially dedicated.
This year’s event features a new area, “The Spider Spot.” This fun-filled activity tent will provide visitors with spider crafts, games to play, and opportunities to meet real spiders that make their homes along the trail. Wagon rides will be first come, first served from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. The evening ends with a naturalist-led night hike at 7 p.m.
In honor of the Halloween season, a special Nature Explorers program called Spooky Nature will held on Saturday, Oct. 24. Children will be divided in groups of kids aged 6 to 7 and those 8 to 11 years old. Kids are encouraged to wear their best nature-related costume for this Halloween-themed program where they’ll learn about some of nature’s creepy, crawly critters and their diabolical adaptations. In addition, the groups will brew up a mysterious substance that some critters use and need to survive, but you’ll have to attend the program to find out the secret substance. This drop-off program will be held both indoors and outside, so dress for the weather. Children should be dropped off by 10 a.m. and picked up by noon at the West Woods.
A full moon in October is the perfect time for nature’s hunters to gather meat for the coming winter. On Tuesday, Oct. 27 GPD will host a program called Full Moon: The Hunter’s Moon at Observatory Park from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Come and learn about the legends of the Hunter’s Moon, then watch the rising full moon through the Observatory Park telescopes. Don’t worry — if the sky is cloudy, you’ll view the moon from the planetarium instead.
Lastly, don’t leave your pooch out of the Halloween festivities. Take them to the Howl’oween Hound Hike at Chickagami Park on Saturday, Oct. 31. You and your dog can parade through the park whether you’re inclined to dress in costumes or not. This program will be held outdoors, so please dress for the weather and bring dog towels, a water bowl, and bags for dog clean up. To attend this event, your dog must be non-aggressive to people and other dogs; only one dog per handler, please.
This article is brought to you by Geauga Park District
