Sleepy Hollow State Park

Sleepy Hollow State Park. Welcome! To Sleepy Hollow State Park!. Sleepy Hollow has three picnic areas with shelters, 1/8 mile of swim beach and a 181 site modern campground. The 11 miles of hiking trails and six miles of bridle trails pass through forested and open land. The park offers examples of "forest succession" as the forest grows back over former open farmland. The park is also open to hunting following state game laws. The west half of the park is open to snowmobiling in the winter if there is four or more inches of snow on the ground. ,

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The Name , When it came time to decide the name of the park, a great debate arose between the cities of St. Johns, Elsie and Laingsburg. All three towns wanted the park to bare their name. Instead, the name was chosen from one of the landowners, I.B. Crane, whose name is reminiscent of the fictional hero Ichabod Crane of the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." ,

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Sleepy Hollow land included two one-room schoolhouses, the Grove School and the Dennison School. , , The Grove School was located on the corner of Price Road and Shepardsville Road. It was sold and moved by an area resident. , , The Dennison School opened in 1881 on land given by the neighboring Dennison Family, the one-room school house educated kindergarten through eighth grade in the rural tradition. It was located on Centerline Road and is now the present location of campsites 83 and 85 in the North Campground. Part of this school's foundation can still be seen on these campsites. The actual structure of the Dennison School was moved to Alward Road next to Victor Township Hall where it is being restored by the Victor Township Historical Association. , , The Dennison home was purchased by the Martin Family in 1941 who owned the land until the formation of the park. Other original area families were Tait, Wilson, Beckwith, Balcom, Price, Jorea, Crane, Reed, Mizga, Scott, Jones, Allen, Williams, Montague, Giffeis, Huyek, Chamberlain, Tisch, Underhill, Alwards, Hunt, Nicholas, Greene, Hill and Young. , , Sleepy Hollow State Park was developed as part of the State Lakes Project in the early 1960's. Along with Ionia State Recreation Area, this project was created to offer central Michigan residents outdoor and water-based recreation in the "lake-less" region between Grand Rapids and the thumb area. Dedicated in 1965 and officially opened in 1976, Sleepy Hollow embraces nearly 2800 acres. , , Lake Ovid was created by damming up the Little Maple River. Farms and homesteads were purchased with the last families moving away by 1967. Dam construction began in 1974 using federal Land and Water dollars. Extensive clearing and grading were undertaken to ensure a clean lake bottom, sufficient lake shore slope and bordering wetlands. The lake began to fill in 1975. Originally thought to take 2-5 years to fill, 1975 had record rainfall and the lake filled that year.