Today’s post comes from guest blogger Dan Maxson. He shares how Lake County’s love for the outdoors began.

A ‘Hike’ into the past - Gildersleeve Mountain, Halle Ravine and Gully Brook
Local residents of Lake County have always been familiar with the scenic and spectacular local natural areas that surround them.  Essays published by naturalist John Burroughs influenced a group of local area men to meet and form a Burroughs Nature Club in circa 1916. This club featured speakers and club explorations to places throughout Lake County.  These places included Gildersleeve Mountain (Chapin Forest), Halle Ravine (Penitentiary Glen Reservation), Mentor Headlands and Mentor Marsh as well as Gully Brook.

Gildersleeve Mountain:
Settled in 1808 by S.A. Gildersleeve, this Kirtland property is situated 1,163 feet above sea level and less than seven miles from the shores of Lake Erie.  It is also the start of the Allegheny Plateau.  While the landscape, foliage and diversity is impressive, it is the scenic vistas that make this area noteworthy. Gildersleeve Mountain is only 18 miles from downtown Cleveland and on a clear day it is possible to see Avon, Ohio (Western Cleveland) and beyond. Another fascinating part of the park is Quarry Creek Ravine near the Old South Church property. It was the site of the Stannard Quarry Company which provided the stones for the Kirtland Temple.  The State of Ohio acquired the property in 1949 and Frederick Chapin and others used the site for forestry research.  In 1966, the Lake County Metroparks assumed control of approximately 60 percent of the original holdings and today maintains the trails of what is now Chapin Forest Reservation.

Halle Ravine:
Settlers founded this area of Lake County in the 1880’s and discovered deep gorges divided the property in two. Samuel and Blache Halle, of the Halle Brothers Company in Cleveland, established a summer estate and working farm in the gorge area in 1912. The Burnett family was hired as the caretakers of the farm and  Maude Dolittle, a Massachusetts teacher served as the summer naturalist for the Halle children. Today the original horse barn is all that remains of their estate and is used today as the Penitentiary Glen Reservation nature center by Lake Metroparks, which assumed control of the 424 acres in 1974. Halle Farm artifacts and photo albums are on display inside the center as well as gorge related nature experiences.  Over 7.5 miles of trails are open to the public for hiking or snowshoeing.

Gully Brook:
Gully Brook was well known as early as 1916 when local Willoughby residents/naturalists set about to conserve the area. By 1925 a public call for a natural woods preserve was mentioned and as the construction of I-90 in the 1950’s diverted many streams and altered the landscape and watersheds in the Gully Brook property, attention again was focused on the issue. The tributaries, hemlock ravines and carpeted wildflower landscapes of Gully Brook Park are now preserved for future generations as the early calls for a wooded nature preserve were finally answered last year. Gully Brook Park opened in 2011 as a Lake Metroparks site for visitors to enjoy.

The New Year has just begun where resolutions and pledges are soon broken. A resolution that can easily be kept is this:  Take a hike (Or a winter snow shoe adventure) at each of the mentioned properties and reconnect or rediscover the natural history that a group of citizens helped preserve for you and the generations to follow.

-Dan Maxson – Curator/President, Fairport Harbor Historical Society