Parsons Road
Grafton, OH 44044
(440) 458-5121

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Entrance to Indian Hollow Reservation

Walking, running or biking the trail is probably the most popular activity at Indian Hollow. Almost two miles in length, you can pick it up either at the trail head by the restroom facilities or at route 57 at the Grafton city entrance. The trail is unique in the park system because it is the only one where mountain bikes are allowed due to its rugged sandstone base. This base is also what made it a prime location for the old quarries, traces of which can still be seen at the northwestern end.

The east branch of the Black River

One of the old quarries at the
northeastern end of Sheldon Woods

In spite of this devastation, Indian Hollow is rich with life of all kinds. Small-mouth bass is a common game fish in the river. The old quarries have developed into a wide variety of wetland habitats as well. While some of the shallower quarries have filled in, others have become deep, steep-sided ponds where fish, water lilies, cattails and more recently, phragmites now grow. One surprising and unpredictable resident of the deep quarries is the freshwater jellyfish (Carspedadusta sowerbii), and there’s a small, spring-fed stream lined with the fragrant calamus (or sweetflag) near where it falls into the Black River.

A yearly parade of unique plants rise out of Indian Hollow’s sandy soil. The Beech-Maple Trail namesakes - American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) and Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) – form a beautiful example of what was once the common climax forest of the area. But even this great stand seems to somewhat fade in the shadow of the cucumber tree. This large, and fairly unknown, tree is actually a magnolia (Magnolia acuminate) and is not known to grow anywhere else in the Lorain County Metro Parks.

Rounding out the unusual plant life of the Indian Hollow Reservation is the ancient liverwort, the redundant two-flowered Cynthia (Krigia virginica), the orchid family member downy rattlesnake-plantain (Goodyera pubescens), the evergreen wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), and the delicate wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis).

Some 12,000 years ago, the Indian Hollow Reservation was covered by the continental glacier called the Wisconsin Ice Sheet. This natural bulldozer was one mile thick and gouged out such local features as Lake Erie. The glacier undoubtedly rode high over the ancient sandstone outcrop that was to become Indian Hollow: It probably exposed the fine sedimentary rock even more. Water erosion took place at an unprecedented rate as the Ice Sheet melted. A shallow channel through the sandstone continued to deepen, and the Black River’s East Branch was born.

After the Wisconsin Ice Sheet receded, the land here resembled the more northern habitats of the taiga and boreal forests. Wild and wonderful animals roamed through this area including the now extinct American mastodon, giant beaver, and the bear-sized ground sloth. Joining these animals were birds and mammals now more common north of here, including musk ox, grizzly bear, and gray wolf.
Over several thousand years the glacier retreated further north and the climate moderated. The beech-maple forest soon became the dominant habitat – and still is today.

While Native Americans lived in the area for several thousand years (see the French Creek Reservation page) James Smith was the first European to venture into Lorain County in 1758. His diary documents the Black River quite well, but it’s not clear if he visited the land that would become Indian Hollow. Smith was no doubt followed by French trappers and other adventurous pioneers. The first local settlement was established in 1817 by Jonathan and Grindall Rawson.

In the 1850’s J. W. Hart opened his stone quarry--now part of Sheldon Woods at the Indian Hollow Reservation. The Grafton Stone Company purchased the operation, turning it into one of the best equipped quarries in the country. In 1879 it was purchased by the famous Cleveland Quarries Company. For some 60 years overall the site provided blocks for bridges and culverts, and later, for grindstones. Some of the latest quarried grindstones never made it out of site and can still be found stacked and scattered in the western end of Sheldon Woods.

Julius and Eleanor Sheldon farmed the land west of the Black River until 1963 at which time they entered into agreement with the Metro Parks. The Sheldons sold approximately 43 acres to the Park District and donated another 35 acres. In 1975 The Indian Hollow Reservation officially opened to the public.

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