When you make the turn onto the back nine at Sawmill Creek Golf Club, the sheltered hardwood corridors of the front nine give way to wide sky, water and coastal wetlands. The landscape bordering the Lake Nine is Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve, a state nature preserve that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists among its properties to visit. For golfers curious about the habitats and wildlife next to the fairways — and for traveling companions looking for a quiet walk while a group plays eighteen — the preserve is a defining natural neighbor on the Erie County shore.
A Rare Undeveloped Shoreline
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve covers 472 acres and, together with its contiguous wetlands, comprises some of the last remaining undeveloped stretches of shoreline in the Sandusky Bay region. As Ohio’s once expansive coastal wetland habitat continues to disappear in the face of encroaching development, ODNR notes that the importance of Sheldon Marsh increases immensely and that habitat protection is key to the survival of wild plant and animal communities.
Rather than a single uniform marsh, the preserve contains many types of habitat, among them old field, hardwood forest, woodland swamp, cattail marsh, barrier sand beach and open water-lake. ODNR describes all of them as relicts of the lake-marsh-forest ecosystem that originally encompassed thousands of acres along Lake Erie’s western basin.
Spring Wildflowers and Migration
Spring is one of the best times to visit the marsh, and those weeks overlap with the opening stretch of the North Coast golf calendar. According to ODNR, from the middle of April into June the woodland floor is covered with blooming wildflowers. Early in the season, Dutchman’s breeches, cut-leaved toothwort and spring beauties bloom beneath the trees, followed as spring progresses by trout lilies, trilliums, wild ginger and wild geraniums.
Across the year, the 472-acre preserve is known to attract nearly 300 bird species, and spring migration brings a variety of neotropical birds and shorebirds to Sheldon Marsh. Before crossing Lake Erie, those migrating birds stop briefly to rest and feed among the lush vegetation of the forest. Out along the barrier sand beach, numerous shorebirds are frequently seen searching for food at the water’s edge.
Summer Residents and the Cardinal Flower
Once spring migration passes, a regular community of birds remains through the warmer months. ODNR lists great blue herons, red-tailed hawks, black-crowned night-herons, wood ducks, common terns, woodcocks, great horned owls and numerous songbirds among the preserve’s summer residents.
Summer also brings what ODNR calls perhaps the most spectacular event of the season in the woodland swamp: the blooming of the cardinal flower. Often described as America’s most beautiful wildflower, it sends up tall and brilliant red spikes that ODNR calls a magnificent sight.
Walking the Preserve
Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve is a separate public property from the golf course and offers two miles of hiking trails. With two miles of trail, a walk here can fit into a morning or afternoon for non-golfing companions, or for golfers who want to stretch their legs before or after a round.
Lake Erie in Late Summer
Visitors spending time along the Lake Erie shore from midsummer into autumn should also keep seasonal water conditions in mind. NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science forecasts seasonal cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms in Lake Erie, which typically occur from July to October. Western Lake Erie blooms can produce toxins that pose a risk to human and animal health, and NOAA points visitors to the Ohio EPA for safety information during the late-summer and early-fall months.
Pairing It with a Round
Knowing what lives on the other side of the Lake Nine deepens your appreciation for how Tom Fazio routed the back nine toward the marsh and water. Before you tee off, read our profile of Sawmill Creek Golf Club for a breakdown of the Creek Nine and Lake Nine, and check our Lake Erie golf travel guide for ideas on pairing a round in Huron with the rest of the North Coast shoreline.