French Creek Reservation

(440) 949-5200

French Creek Reservation is home to 450 acres of wooded landscape as well as a beautiful Nature Center that is the home to French Creek Theatre, the park district’s very own Live Theatre program. The park is vast and features over 4.5 miles of trails through gorgeous forests and over and along 3 separate creeks. The French Creek Nature Center is not only home to French Creek Theatre, but also offers plenty of things to do and see, including programs and exhibits, wildlife observation area, and an indoor play area.

HIGHLIGHTS

Three Creeks and Plenty of Trees

The French Creek Reservation features 450 acres of mostly wooded landscape with high cliffs, deep ravines and three creeks-Sugar Creek, Fish Creek, and the reservation's namesake, the French Creek. With 4.5 miles of the most forested trails in Lorain County, you're not likely to run out of walking room. The French Creek Nature Center offers a variety of programs and exhibits, a nature space/indoor playground and wildlife observatory, and houses the French Creek Theatre.

Rolling, Wooded Trails

Four separately marked trails connect the French Creek Nature Center at one side of the park with the Pine Tree Picnic Area at the other side. These trails take you from water's edge to the tops of ravines, offering spectacular views of the creeks below—from rolling, winding paths to level straight-aways ideal for cross-country skiers. You'll find a variety of wildflowers, plants and trees, an occasional bridge and several scenic overlooks. Along the way you can rest at one of the benches placed near the trails or just sit and enjoy the natural beauty, songbirds and soothing sound of wind in the trees.

Pine Tree Picnic Area

True to its name, several groves of pines sprinkle the Pine Tree Picnic Area with their perennial green, rich smells and carpets of orange needles. The area offers two reservable picnic shelters for groups of 100 and 25, a modern playground with handicap access, drinking fountain and an indoor restroom facility. There are plenty of grills and picnic tables both in sunny, open spaces or under the shelter of the trees. The area is linked by two trails: Sugar Creek Trail (.55 miles) which winds in a loop along the edge of the Sugar Creek ravine, and Big Woods Trail (1.5 miles) which cuts through the picnic area at opposite sides and can take you all the way to the French Creek Nature Center at the other side of the reservation.

French Creek Kayak Launch

The French Creek Kayak/Boat Launch is part of French Creek Reservation and is located off of Colorado Ave (St. Rt. 611) in Sheffield Village about 1 mile west of the Nature Center. To access the launch, follow Lake Breeze Rd. south until it dead ends into Old Colorado Ave. The Kayak Launch parking lot will be on the left. This water trail access point is at the confluence of the French Creek and the Black River and flows northwest for about 5 miles before emptying into Lake Erie near Lakeview Park in Lorain. The boat launch is free and open to the public, however it is typically only open during the Spring and Summer months. Call (440) 324-5481 or click the button below to confirm if the kayak launch is open.

FRENCH CREEK NATURE CENTER

Programs

The French Creek Nature Center offers programs for people of all ages, from arts and crafts to programs that focus on the natural world. Learn about and meet some of the amazing animals at the nature center that live in and around the French Creek, bring the little ones for a preschool program on the wonders of our natural environment and view turtles, fish, and snakes up close in the nature center. With the addition of the French Creek Theatre, see how nature inspires art with a variety of programs.

Ewing Hall

Formerly the home of rotating animal exhibits, Ewing Hall was converted into a live theatre space in 2007 and is now the main performance space of French Creek Theatre. Ewing Hall features an art gallery that changes with each theatre production and an intimate venue used as a concert hall, a theatre in the round, and even as a dinner theatre cabaret! The 8th Note Café is located inside Ewing Hall, and is open prior to and during performances to provide coffee, soda, lattes, pizza, fresh baked cookies, and other snacks to theatergoers.

The Stanley D. Pijor Distance Learning Classroom

What’s a Distance Learning Classroom? Set up in a theater format, this space connects with organizations from around the globe for instant, on-the-spot learning opportunities. Visitors have traveled to Australia, Pearl Harbor, and the Grand Canyon without leaving Lorain County.  We can also provide programs to your classroom through the power of distance learning as long as you have the right equipment.  Call (440) 949-5200 for more information. The room also houses artist focus galleries, receptions, and movie showings and is the home to some smaller theatre shows.

The Nature Play Spot

While you’re at the nature center, don’t forget to check out the bird observatory and indoor playground. Kids can play, climb, and crawl while learning about the environment in an indoor tree house with a fun area for puppet shows. While the children play, adults can enjoy the view from our wall of windows and see wildlife such as song birds enjoy the outdoor feeders. 

NATURAL HISTORY

450 Acres of Forest

Nearly all of French Creek Reservation 426 acres is forested, making it one of the largest forested areas in the lake plain. The forest varies greatly in age, with some areas over 100 years old while others have only been reforested since Lorain County Metro Parks obtained the land in the 1960’s. A walk through the reservation reveals a variety of trees, including sycamore, pin oak, walnut, maple, cottonwood, and chestnut. In the warmer months, trillium, violet and wild geranium add splashes of color to the rich green.

Many species of wildlife call these woods home, including deer, red fox, king fisher, great blue heron, garter snake, black rat snake, 2-lined salamander, red-bellied woodpecker and lots of songbirds.

HISTORY

Early Native Americans

The French Creek Reservation has provided archeologists with a rich source of cultural artifacts—mostly arrowheads and pottery—that go back 1000 years. The area was a prime location for Native Americans due to the close proximity of the three creeks, which provided plenty of fresh water both for themselves and for local wildlife—which at that time included elk and bear. These early inhabitants were agricultural as well, growing maize (corn) and sunflowers among other crops. They built their villages on the edges of the ravines for protection against other tribes.

The Burrell Homestead

Settler's began arriving in Sheffield in 1816. Among the earliest was Captain Jabez Burrell, who had staked his claim a year earlier and returned with his family from Sheffield, Massachusetts (not so coincidentally.) Jabez built a log cabin somewhere near “Big Bottom" where the riverbed broadens just west of the French Creek Reservation along East River Road. By 1820 he had constructed one of the first brick houses in Lorain County—built with bricks he fired right there on his property. The original bricks still hold up two walls of the present-day house.

The Sheffield Manual Labor Institute

After Jabez died in 1833, his son Robbins inherited the homestead and opened a branch school of Oberlin College with his brother Jabez L., called The Sheffield Manual Labor Institute. The odd name expresses the prevailing philosophy at Oberlin College—that manual work (meaning exercise) and proper diet were essential parts of a healthy life. Along with their studies, the students—both men and women—performed all of the domestic and agricultural duties at the homestead.

But the college closed its doors after only eighteen months, partly for financial reasons and partly because the State of Ohio refused to charter it unless the brothers agreed to ban African-American students from enrolling (Oberlin College had recently enrolled James Bradley, an African-American.) The brothers refused on the principal that education was a right due to everyone, regardless of race, sex or religion.

Last Stop on the Underground Railroad

Robbins' progressive views did not stop with education. In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Burrell Homestead was one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad. From here smuggled slaves could catch a boat at Big Bottom and sail to Canada and freedom. Jabez L. (who lived in Oberlin) was very likely involved in this as well, but there is no documented proof.

The Twentieth Century Burrells

Early in the twentieth century, Harry Burrell had six children who were to be the last of his line. Eleanor, Virginia and Doris were the last to live in the house. Perhaps true to the family character, none of these women lived traditional lives. Doris worked for 30 years in New York City as a writer and editor in the fashion industry, while Eleanor and Virginia stayed closer to home and worked in Cleveland. Virginia died in 1976, Doris in 1997. Eleanor lived until 2001, after which the property was turned over to Lorain County Metro Parks.