Within gorgeous Jordan Creek Park lies Lake Metroparks’ Environmental Learning Center; a destination for school field trips and many other science and nature-oriented educational programs. The Environmental Learning Center can be rented for weddings and receptions, graduation and birthday parties and civic or corporate functions as well. The building has several spaces available indoors and renters can take advantage of the large surrounding patios, outdoor fireplace and pergolas during the warmer months. Click here for details.
Much of the land was acquired in 2001 and has been known as the Environmental Learning Center for more than a decade. While the building retains the name Environmental Learning Center, the park has been renamed Jordan Creek Park. Before this change, the property and its management have gone through some significant changes through the years. Prior to Lake Metroparks’ ownership it was called Camp Klein, a United Methodist Church residence camp. Camp Klein was in operation from 1955 to 1997 and many in our area recount wonderful memories of time spent at Camp Klein. After it closed, Lake Metroparks eventually took ownership of the property and with the assistance of federal grant monies, the property was transformed into what it is today. The building known as the Environmental Learning Center was the former main hall used during the Camp Klein years. Lake Metroparks renovated the hall to update the facility and to add classrooms, lab space, meeting rooms, offices and an observatory! Eventually, existing earthen trails that crisscrossed the property were defined and improved to highlight the surrounding ravines and woods that contain towering stands of beech and hemlock trees overlooking the Jordan Creek valley.