Euclid Creek Reservation Cleveland Metropark Hiking Trail Pictures

Euclid Creek Reservation within the Cleveland Metroparks domain in Ohio is named for Euclid Creek which runs the length of the reservation. It features wooded hillsides where the rare rock chestnut oak grows. The reservation is located in Euclid, South Euclid and Richmond Heights. The southern portion of the reservation is the site of a "ghost town." The village of Bluestone flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s when its populace quarried the blue-gray siltstone for use in building sidewalks and other construction. Today, the only remaining exposure of bluestone is in Quarry Picnic Area.

Our Devonian rock sequence (the Chagrin Shale through the Berea Sandstone) is exposed in the Cleveland Metroparks Brecksville Reservation along Chippewa Creek (helps to be a hiker), along Euclid Creek in the Cleveland Metroparks Euclid Creek Reservation (very accessible), along Penitentiary Glen in Lake Metroparks Penitentiary Glen (access during organized tours only), and in Stebbins Gulch in Holden Arboretum (access during organized tours only). Some of these same layers also can be seen along the Vermilion River in the Lorain County Metro Parks.

The most accessible location to view Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks, including the Sharon Conglomerate, is in Summit Metro Parks Gorge Park along the Cuyahoga River. In addition, the Sharon Conglomerate can be seen almost any place that has the word "ledges" in its title, including Thompson Ledges near Thompson, Whipps Ledges in Hinckley, Nelson-Kennedy Ledges in Portage County, and the Boston and Ritchie ledges in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area.

Accessible places to observe ongoing shoreline processes include Edgewater Park, which is part of Cleveland Lakefront State Park, Huntington Reservation in Bay Village, and Mentor Headlands Beach State Park in Lake County.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History has up-to-date exhibits on local geology. The Rocky River Nature Center of the Cleveland Metroparks and the French Creek Nature Center of the Lorain County Metro Parks have exhibits on the geology of their respective parks.

Cleveland Metroparks