Join us as we explore Geneva Swamp, including a new addition to the Museum’s living collection of nature preserves—the Weaver tract.   

Geneva Swamp is the last large stretch of Lake Erie lake plain swamp forest that still stands between Cuyahoga County and the Pennsylvania line. This preserve—which looks now much as Cleveland looked 300 years ago—provides critical habitat for a variety of rare species, including the globally declining rusty blackbird. In spring, high-quality vernal ponds support populations of spotted salamanders and wood frogs. 

Before it was acquired by the Museum in the fall of 2023, the Weaver tract had been scheduled to be timbered. On our first field trip to this newly protected property, we’ll wander its upland-wetland landscape, where scattered sand ridges and dry knolls wind through swamp forest.