Cleveland Cultural Gardens Smart-guided Bikeway Tour - a Cycling Adventure

Experience 33 cultural gardens along Doan Creek upon a nature-bound bikeway that also ribbons through Cleveland's University Circle - home to museums, historical centers, music institutions, and Case Western Reserve University.

This 16-mile bikeway tour takes you from the majestic shores of Lake Erie, through Cleveland's Cultural Gardens and world-renowned University Circle, to picturesque Horseshoe Lake. With so many gardens to see and magnificent architecture to take in along the Harrison Dillard Trail, making time to explore the many museums and art centers may be a masterful, but worthwhile, endeavor of touring. Included in this fun feat is a midway segment of relaxation on the Lake-to-Lakes Trail that takes you to the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, and picturesque Horseshoe Lake.

On the return is a visit to University Circle with a vast selection of optional stops at premier cultural institutions, museums, music centers, and historical collections. A tasty stop at a popular Case Western Reserve campus spot is included (details included with ticket purchase). Several other restaurants also dot the area.

The route follows the topography of the land, being fairly level along the Doan Creek bed. There are a few segments where you might use a bit of bike gear, but nothing to work up too much of a sweat over. Speaking of sweating - it's optional. You set the pace, starting time, and touring agenda with CycleNuts' expert smart-guided cycle tour pattern. The route is 83% bikeway and bike lane. In some short segments the route shares the road with motor vehicles. The tour route is shaded except for the Lake Erie and University Circle areas which are sporadically shaded.

The points of interest on this short 16-mile tour are delightfully rich:

• Severance Hall - Regarded by many music lovers as one of the world's most beautiful concert halls, Severance opened in 1931 as the home of The Cleveland Orchestra. Its architectural significance has been recognized by local and national preservation societies and is named for John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth, who initially pledged $1 million for its construction. Elisabeth died unexpectedly early in the design process, and John Severance made additional contributions toward the building in her memory.
• Horseshoe Lake - In 1852, the North Union Shakers dammed Doan Brook for the second time, generating power for a new woolen mill and creating what would later become Horseshoe Lake.
• Cleveland History Center - Journey through Cleveland’s history from 1796 to today, with the extensive collection and interactive exhibits at the Cleveland History Center. Ride on the restored Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel, walk through two historic mansions, ...and discover "why Cleveland".
• Cleveland Museum of Art - The Cleveland Museum of Art consistently ranks as one of the best comprehensive art museums in the United States and one of the most visited in the world! It's home to more than 61,000 works of art spanning 6,000 years and, admission is free.
• Cleveland Cultural Gardens - This collection of 30+ small gardens began in 1916, designed and cared for by different cultural/ethnic groups in Cleveland, and is a unique and special feature in Cleveland – and possibly in the world. The Cultural Gardens celebrate the multiculturalism that has always been an important part of Cleveland’s history, and promote the Gardens’ mission of “peace through mutual understanding.”
• Cleveland Botanical Garden - Carved into 10 acres of what was once the original Cleveland Zoo, CBG was originally called the Cleveland Garden Center and was the first organization of its kind in the U.S. For more than a generation — since 1930, in fact — the Cleveland Botanical Garden has existed as a lush, beautiful, and peaceful urban sanctuary in University Circle. It's filled to the brim — the outside, too — with plants and flowers from around the globe. It's the perfect spot for a little zen.
• Nature Center at Shaker Lakes - In the heart of historic Shaker Heights and surrounded by the Shaker Parklands, the Nature Center is free and open to the public, providing wonderful nature experiences and discovery for all ages throughout all seasons.
• Crawford Auto-aviation Museum - University Circle’s best-kept secret is the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. The collection leans heavily toward cars built in Cleveland between 1898 and 1931, when Cleveland was the automotive center of the nation, with 80 different car brands being built here.
• Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve - From nearly a century of Cuyahoga River dredgings to being classified as a National Audubon Important Bird Area in 2000. CLNP represents a singular example of lakefront naturalization in Cleveland. Today, the CLNP is the only publicly accessible naturalized lakefront area between Huron and Mentor (a distance of over 70 miles)
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History - The museum is considered one of the finest institutions of its kind in North America. Permanent exhibits of special interest include the 3 million-year-old human ancestor Australopithecus afarensis, known as “Lucy,” and the 150 million-year-old Haplocanthosaurus delfsi, one of the most complete mounted sauropods on display anywhere in the world! The Museum also features a planetarium, observatory, discovery center, live animal shows, a wildlife center, and woods garden.

WHY CHOOSE a Smart-guided Selfie Cycle Tour?

You get all the benefits of a guided tour without the drawbacks of a tour guide, other tourists, time restrictions, and a rigid tour agenda. With this smart-guided tour, you can go when you want, at your speed, and hang out at a spot as long as you wish. You can even wander off the planned route and the smart guide will get you back on track when you are ready.

HERE'S THE PLAN: You bring a bike and a smartphone. CycleNuts provides the smart-tour guide links! You will receive an expertly designed tour route via email. Click the emailed link and follow the Selfie Tour route using your smartphone as your smart-tour guide for the Voice and Map guided turn-by-turn instructions.

SHORT INSTRUCTIONS: From your location, using your cell phone click on the starting spot link and follow the Google Maps directions. When you arrive, click the emailed tour navigation links to begin the tour. The navigation links will be either Google Maps, Ride With GPS (RWGPS), or both. For more complex tours, there may be several links to click with additional instructions. With Google Maps, the navigator will prompt you at each checkpoint to continue navigation.

BUY NOW AND RIDE WHENEVER AND FOREVER. The route links do not expire. Buy now and plan your adventure - invite your favorite peeps or ride solo; make overnight accommodation reservations; reserve a sitter for your pets. Many tours include dog-friendly tasty spots, as noted in the tour instructions. Here are two CycleNuts tested and approved sites for pet owners: Bring Fido for those touring with dogs; and Rover for those needing pet sitters. The purchase is for the CycleNuts Selfie Smart-guided route links and instructions. Attractions, lodgings, food, bike rental, etc. are not included.

CYCLENUTS SELFIE TOURS tie together fun, interesting, scenic, historic, tasty, and refreshing points of interest along a bikeway-focused tour route where you ride at your pace and pleasure. You are the tour boss. You choose the date and time - the tour is good for any day or time.

With these Smart-guided Selfie Cycle Tours, you bring the bike, and the smartphone - CycleNuts provides the smart-guided links. The smart guide gives voice and visual turn-by-turn instructions along an expertly designed tour route.

Do the tour solo or bring along your crew. Easily stop anywhere along the way to visit attractions or refreshments and the smart guide will continue the route from wherever you are when you are ready to roll.

Got questions? - Get answers! – http://CycleNuts.link FAQS

Three metropolis areas to pick from - choose one or join all three - Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Cleveland

Free tickets may be available for this tour in the CycleNuts Meetup Groups.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

CycleNuts Cleveland Cultural Gardens Selfie Cycle Tour, 8701 Lakeshore Boulevard, Cleveland, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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