HERRICK FEN - 127 ACRES

Main Feature:

Fen communities

Herrick Fen is important for its tamarack and cinquefoil-sedge fen communities. The tamarack fen supports one of the few reproducing populations of tamarack in Ohio, the only native conifer in Ohio which sheds its needles each year.

The cinquefoil-sedge fen contains an extensive population of bayberry, a state endangered plant found in only three locations in Ohio.

The preserve lies within the Tinker's Creek watershed in the glaciated Allegheny Plateau region of northeastern Ohio. The site lies on a buried preglacial valley filled with silt and gravel that allows for the rise of cold, calcium and magnesium rich springs which promote the presence of the fen communities here.

Herrick Fen was created in 1953 when an earthen dam was built across a tributary of Tinker's Creek, impacting the original extent of the fen communities. The lake has produced a mosaic of wetland communities, providing habitat for a variety of aquatic species and opportunities for observing waterfowl and migratory bird species.

A beech-maple forest borders the wetland on the northeast side and mixed hardwood forest occurs on the southern edge. The preserve provides habitat for more than 20 state-listed plants including yellow sedge, crinkled hairgrass, water avens, bunchflower, autumn willow and green cotton-grass.

Location:

From Streetsboro, take State Rte 43 south for 0.2 miles from its intersection with State Rte 14. Turn right (southwest) on Seasons Rd (Township Rd 157) and follow it 2.2 miles to a gravel lane on the left (east) side just past a railroad crossing. This lane is a joint access which leads along the present north boundary of the preserve to a small parking lot on the right. A trail runs from the parking lot through a meadow. This preserve is owned by Kent State University and The Nature Conservancy, managed by the Ohio Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.