New Metroparks trail features a mastodon "skeleton" that kids can explore.
See more pictures of the Prehistoric Play Pit!
(Middleburg Heights) - Cleveland Metroparks is getting ready to officially open the new Lake to Lake Trail, a part of Big Creek Reservation in Middleburg Hts., and connecting Lake Abram to Lake Isaac.
A new, unique addition to this Trail area is taking shape…the new “Prehistoric Play Pit” and what is rising from it!
The “Prehistoric Play Pit,” at the northern end of the new Lake to Lake Trail, will feature a full-size replica of a Mastodon skeleton, a creature that roamed in this area thousands of years ago. The replica Mastodon is almost 25 feet long, made on a steel framework and covered with a durable fiberglass resin. Mastodons could have roamed around the Lake Abram area 9,000 to 25,000 years ago during the Ice Age.
Children will be able to, and are encouraged to, play on and around the skeleton, which is anchored, in a sand pit. The model bones were made to actual size, and kids can explore the area to experience what it may be like to be a scientist on an actual dig site.
The design and construction of the Mastodon skeleton was done entirely by employees in Cleveland Metroparks Visual Communication Division, led by exhibit staff Joe Lenkey and Joe Day.
The “Prehistoric Play Pit” is part of a larger effort - the 2.4-mile Lake to Lake Trail project scheduled to officially open July 9. The cost of the project is estimated at $4.5 million. The Trail gets its name from the two major wetland and lake areas it joins, Lake Isaac and Lake Abram.
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