Go to website http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/dnap/location/headlands.html= The Ohio Department of Natural Resources

To find all Ohio preserves, go to http://www.ohiodnr.com/dnap/mapofpreserves.htm 
 
HEADLANDS DUNES
STATE NATURE PRESERVE - 25 ACRES

Main Feature:

Scenic natural beach on Lake Erie with many rare and unusual Atlantic coastal plain plants; good site for
migrating birds and monarch butterflies.

Extensive development along the shores of Lake Erie has all but totally eliminated the presence of sandy beaches 
and dunes at the western mouths of river bays and inlets from Sandusky Bay to Dunkirk, New York. Headlands Dunes
State Nature Preserve remains today as one of the last of its kind in the entire state.

This community is much more than merely an accumulation of sand along a shoreline. It is a living assemblage of 
fascinating and highly specialized plants and animals occurring in an environment too hostile for most other 
organisms to survive. 

The most important dune developers along the Lake and Ashtabula County coast are switchgrass and/or beach grass 
(Hicks, 1934). Switchgrass or beach grass becomes established on the upper beach along with annuals such as
cocklebur and sea rocket. These lone grass plants quickly spread into huge root-like mats. 

Sand rapidly drifts into the relatively quiet vicinity of the switchgrass crown, and deposition occurs. 

Switchgrass and beach grass have an adaptation shared by many dune plants: e.g. cottonwood, red osier, Canada
wild-rye, sandbar willow, etc. coincidental with the accumulation of sand around its crown, switchgrass or 
beach grass continues to grow upward through the sand. Eventually it will grow several feet above the original
locality of germination or initial rhizome establishment.

As the dune becomes more or less stabilized by the switchgrass or beach grass, grape vines and poison ivy
become established on the dunes; eventually cottonwood and willow appear, and finally oak (usually black oak).

The historical factors which allowed the migration of the coastal species into the Great Lakes are no longer at 
play; once we lose our sand dune communities, they will be lost forever. 

Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve protects a vestige of the Lake Erie Dune community for this as well as future
generations.

Location:

Located in Lake County west of Fairport Harbor at the north end of State Route 44 and extreme east end of Headlands
Beach State Park. Parking, restrooms and trail are available.


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Headlands Dunes:

Harboring plants usually found along the Atlantic coast, Headlands Dunes protects an isolated extensive sand 
dune shoreline along Lake Erie.

Atlantic Coastal Plain species, such as beach grass, sea rocket, seaside spurge, purple sand grass and beach
pea, persist on the preserve’s sand dunes. But look closer and you’ll spot invasives, such as sweet clover,
crown vetch and purple loosestrife, growing in this special place.

The division is focusing its efforts on maintaining or expanding the beach dune community by hand pulling
invasive plants and applying wetland-approved herbicides.

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Headlands Beach:
 
Headlands Beach is a delightful mile-long ribbon of shoreline framed by the pounding surf of Lake Erie,
the shifting sands of Headlands Dunes and the waving grasses of Mentor Marsh. During the spring and fall
migrations, the headlands are a birder’s paradise. In the height of summer, the beach is a swimmer’s oasis
and a beachcomber’s delight. Anglers are ecstatic over the fall steelhead run from the great lake to the Grand
River, and butterfly lovers rejoice over the monarchs that congregate here each autumn. 

Today’s sparkling lake and sandy beach are the products of ancient ice and water. Thirteen thousand years
ago, northern Ohio was covered by a vast inland sea stretching from western New York state to northeast Indiana.
The sea was created by the melting Wisconsinan glacier and shaped by the retreating ice, which left behind thick 
ridges of sand in its wake and exposed new outlets to drain the water, thus shrinking the sea to form modern Lake 
Erie and its environs. Over the last thousand years, the lapping surf and pounding waves of Lake Erie and the 
swiftly flowing waters of the Grand River have sculpted the unique headlands landscape of sand, forest and marsh.

Natural treasures abound here, on the land, in the water, and far below the surface. Just beyond the sand, the
headlands are forested in a variety of hardwoods which historically included chestnut trees, as well as maple, 
oak, elm, hickory, walnut, cherry, tulip tree, beech and ash. The dunes harbor a surprising array of plants native
to the Atlantic coastal plains, such as sea rocket, beach pea, seaside spurge, beach grass and purple sand grass. 
These rare plants hitched a ride at the close of the last Ice Age as the ancient lake shrunk away from its ocean 
neighborhood. When the Grand River wriggled out of its ancient bed and carved itself a new channel hundreds of years
ago, the soggy soil it left behind blossomed into the forested swamps and grassy wet expanses of Mentor Marsh. 
Pockets of natural gas are abundant in the shale beneath the sand and clay soil, while deep under Lake Erie, veins
 of rock salt are embedded in the limestone bedrock. Since 1959, a cavernous salt mine 2,000 feet below Lake Erie 
near Fairport Harbor has faithfully supplied huge quantities of rock salt for ice removal, contributing to Ohio’s
ranking as the nation’s third largest producer of the precious mineral. The natural gas has warmed the homes in 
the area for generations, and for hundreds of years the pressurized gas has created a sensation in the form of a
bubbling, flammable spring welling up through the lake east of modern-day Painesville. In the 1600s, the Erie Indians
considered the mysterious phenomenon to be a sacred omen, while modern-day Painesville residents recall amusing 
childhood memories of pranksters lighting the spring on calm, clear days.

Although the proximity of the headlands to Lake Erie has a moderating effect on the extremes of temperature and
heavy snowfalls that occur further inland, life next to the lake is not always calm and dry. The combination of 
northeasterly gales and water rushing into the shallower end of Lake Erie’s lopsided basin can cause a massive 
sloshing movement, known as a seiche, that can quickly and dramatically inundate unprotected coastal areas. When 
the conditions are just right as Lake Erie’s winter blanket of ice first forms, or begins to crack and break up, 
winds whipping across the lake may push chunks of ice into frosty piles rising ten to fifteen feet high along the 
shore. 

Despite nature’s occasional mischief, though, the spectacular headlands have enchanted millions of visitors for
millenia. Through history, this area has served as a campground for revolutionaries, a relaxing retreat for the 
chief executive, and an idyllic childhood home for an ordinary family. Today, Headlands Beach is popular state
park, and Mentor Marsh and Headlands Dunes are prized state nature preserves.

In November 1760, Major Robert Rogers and his Rangers camped on the headlands at the mouth of the Grand River 
on their dicey mission to take control of the French Fort Detroit during the French and Indian War. Their journey
from Montreal was full of hair-raising adventures, from navigating fragile boats through the ferocious rapids above
Niagara Falls and on the storm-tossed Great Lakes, to miserable marches through chilly swamps and bogs. Along the
way, they endured gnawing hunger and the threat of ambushes by hostile Indians and their French allies. In contrast,
the headlands offered a safe haven. 

Rogers was so impressed with the area, he noted in his famous journal, “The land on the south shore of Erie has a
fine appearance; the country is level, the timber tall and of the best quality; such as oak, hickory and locust; 
and for plenty and variety of game, it is not exceeded by any country in the world.”

Not only did Rogers’ Lake Erie campaign serve as excellent training for the Rangers who would later figure
prominently in the Revolutionary War, it also put into practice Major Robert Rogers’ greatest legacy; the
military code of conduct and tactics for wilderness survival known as Rogers’ Ranging Rules, which are still 
in use today by the Green Berets.

With the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, the Connecticut Western Reserve, a 5,000-square-mile chunk of 
northeast Ohio including the headlands, was surveyed by Moses Cleaveland. The tiny settlement of Cleveland was
established in 1796 to serve as the northern gateway to the Ohio frontier. Before long, Mentor and Painesville
were bustling villages, but the headlands remained sparsely populated by a few hardy farmers, isolated by the
swampy land to the south. The isolation ended in 1856 with the construction of a corduroy road comprised of
successive layers of logs topped by a new layer each time the road sunk further into the muck.

In 1876, James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States, chose the headlands for his backyard when he
moved his family to the countryside near Mentor. While serving in the U.S. Senate, Garfield and his wife, 
Lucretia, brought their seven children to the sprawling country home for a welcome respite from the hubbub
of Washington and the distress of Garfield’s Civil War experiences. The serenity of the area appealed to 
Garfield, who was born in 1831 in the wilderness outside Cleveland, the last U.S. president who could truly 
claim to be born in a log cabin. The family estate, dubbed Lawnfield by reporters who camped out on its huge 
grassy lawn during Garfield’s presidential campaign, is now a national historic site.

In the early 1900s, the children of the Norton family spent blissfull summer days on Headlands Beach. In her 
charming memoirs, Margaret Norton Smith reminisces about collecting driftwood and shells, building sandcastles,
swimming and paddling canoes on the lake. At night, bonfires dotted the beach as families gathered to watch the
sunset, roast marshmallows and corn, and share stories and songs. Occasionally roving bands of Gypsies would 
alight at the headlands and camp in an old orchard that is now the park entrance. The fun lasted year-round with 
sleigh rides through the snow and skating on the frozen marsh.

In 1953, the designation of 126 acres of beach, forest and marsh land at the east end of the headlands as
Painesville Beach State Park ensured that many of the Norton children’s favorite pastimes could still be
enjoyed by children for generations to come. The park was renamed Headlands Beach in 1955, and visitor
facilities were added in the 1960s. Meanwhile, concerned citizens protested the mounting pressure to drain 
and develop the nearby marsh, and land was donated by two industrial giants to create Mentor Marsh State
Nature Preserve. Together, Headlands Beach, Headlands Dunes and Mentor Marsh capture and protect fine 
examples of the diverse and wonderous landscapes of the Great Lakes.