Stephens Gulch

From the Creepy Cleveland Archives
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Contributed by Mindscape

Related to the Melonheads I accidentally ran across your site and am very familiar with the legend. I think the legend is more vague as to what really occurs down there. I am 31 years old and don't believe in ghosts or spirits of any kind. I have a cousin that works for the US government researching UFO's and occult stories. He is from Akron and one day came up in the mid 80's and was investigating a UFO sighting over Stephens Gulch (located on Wisner and Mitchell's Mills junction, Chardon) He asked if I would come along and walk with him through the woods with a park officer. the Gulch is very secluded and used to be a Military training zone in the 50's and 60's and also had Indians living down there way back. The proof is in historical documents and the Indian cleaning wells in the rock are still evident. This place is the most beautiful and enchanting place on Earth. I have never been anywhere that sends chills down your spine with its waterfalls and cut gorge walls. It compares to the most exotic places on Earth all hidden in the woods. Nothing ever came about the sighting and I didn't go back until years later.
In the late 1980's I and 2 friends that lived by Stephens Gulch walked down in. The entrance we took off Mitchell's Mills Road was one way in and one way out because of the steep hill. When we were done rock climbing we were leaving up a steep 80ft high embankment with a trail. As we climbed an old lady with her dog was coming down and freaked us out. He dog was crippled and she was dirty and almost homeless looking. Once we met in the middle she was very sweet and began to talk to us about the old hippie parties and stuff that use to happen there. She seemed senile and quite distraught. We blew it off as a stupid old lady and finished the conversation with her telling us that she lived across the road from the exit. The house she described seemed vacant by memory. Her dog was a German Sheppard. As we got to the top of the cliff my friend Adam looked down and asked where the "fuc*" the old lady went. You could see 500 yards left and right down the river and she was gone. Being semi freaked out we chalked it up to her being very fast. When we got back to my buddy Toms house he asked his mother if she knew some crazy old lady up the road across from the Gulch and she replied that the lady died years ago and use to walk her Sheppard up and down the road, it was hit by a car and died. This is a true story. I have never been there since and live 1 mile away. I am sickened by what happened and disturbed because my deepest beliefs were questioned. This place is messed up and is worthy of paranormal investigation. I have alerted many people to this story and have no clue if it has been researched. It's funny that there is actually a site with info about this messed up area!