Portions of two state designated wild and scenic rivers - and many tributaries - flow through and are protected by Lake Metroparks. In addition to protecting watersheds and open space, Lake Metroparks annually provides nearly two-and-a-half million visitors with countless recreational and educational experiences at diverse facilities including an agriculturally themed park, a nature center, a state-of-the-art education and wildlife rehabilitation center, two golf courses, a 4.8-mile paved bike/hike trail, six parks on Lake Erie's shoreline and a cross-country ski center.

As part of a continuing effort to provide new ways and new opportunities for people to enjoy their parks, Lake Metroparks has extended the hours of most* of its parks to now be open 6 am to 11 pm.

*The hours for Farmpark, Pine Ridge Country Club, Erie Shores Golf Course and Lakefront Lodge Park as well as the operation of certain buildings (including the Nature Center and Wildlife Center at Penitentiary Glen Reservation and Pine Lodge cross-country ski center at Chapin Forest Reservation) will remain unchanged. Big Creek at Hidden Lake will close 1/2-hour past sunset. The Environmental Learning Center and the Children’s Schoolhouse Nature Park are still "by appointment only" education facilities.