Hidden Cleveland: Dike 14

You’ve got to know where you’re going — behind the ranger station and welcome center, through a ballpark-style turnstile — but a hike around the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve’s 1.3-mile perimeter trail feels like setting out to sea. The 88-acre landmass jutting into Lake Erie is held fast from the buffeting waves that crash along the rocky shoreway by rusted metal bulkheads driven deep into the earth. The area began in 1962 when two freighters were sunk offshore to create a breakwall. Gunk from dredging the Cuyahoga River was dumped between the freighters and shoreline. Eventually enough sediment built up to create a bona fide peninsula called Dike 14. In 2012, it opened as a nature preserve. There’s plenty of rustling and chirping along the trail since the preserve is at the intersection of four migratory bird routes. Two benches provide a view of the skyline. With waves breaking just below, it’s a silent reminder of the oasis’ urban setting. Near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Lakeshore Boulevard, Cleveland