Mentor Marsh Nature Preserve

The trail at the Carol Sweet Nature Center is pleasant, although you may feel a little too close to the nearby residential area at times. It deserves 3 stars and at least you experience the marsh. The Zimmerman Trail is difficult to find and the poorly marked turnoff on Headlands Road tells you that you’re at the Kerven Trail. That area is a pleasant forest but frankly gives you little of the marsh experience. If you want a nice combination of marsh and lake front. I also thought the Headlands Dunes weren’t very interesting except for the quirky lighthouse that someone now has as a house. I suggest you do what Lake Countians often are afraid to do and go to the preserve at the Cleveland Lakefront Metropark that Port of Cleveland built on landfill for the breakwater near Gordon Park. Also worthwhile is Wendy Park and Whiskey Island on the West Side of Cleveland.