KIRTLAND, Ohio - Penitentiary Glen is a dark, shady, hemlock-lined gorge east of Cleveland.

It is the featured attraction in Lake Metroparks' Penitentiary Glen Reservation, a place with seven miles of trails and lots of other attractions.

The 424-acre park makes a great day trip for families, with a nature center, a wildlife rehabilitation center, train rides and picnicking.

You can look into the 100-foot-deep sandstone gorge, hike around it and, occasionally, you can join naturalist-led, get-your-feet-wet hikes into the heart of the ecologically sensitive glen.

Early settlers called it Penitentiary Gully because it was so hard to get out of.

The sandstones and shales are up to 360 million years old and create a picturesque setting.

Access to the gorge is restricted because of its steep walls, exposed rock and fragile vegetation along Stoney Brook.

But the park district offers several overlooks into the gorge from wooden decks and 141 steps that descend to Stoney Brook Falls.

The gorge hikes book well in advance, so check with the park if you are interested.

The park off Kirtland-Chardon Road was also the one-time farm of Samuel and Blanche Halle.

Samuel and his brother, Sal, owned and operated the Halle Bros. Co. department stores in Greater Cleveland.

In 1912, Samuel and Blanche Halle bought 184 acres in Kirtland as a summer estate and a weekend retreat for them and their five children.

Maude Doolittle, a Massachusetts teacher who loved nature, was hired as a governess for the children over the summer.

The property was a working farm with corn and hay. It was managed by Jack Burnett and was the year-round home of the Burnett family.

Today Halle-Burnett memorabilia and photographs of the farm, called Hallefarm, are featured in the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center.

In fact, that building is the lone Hallefarm survivor.

It was the original horse barn built in 1930.

The park offers a map and brochure for the self-guided Hallefarm Trail, a quarter-mile loop with 12 stops along what once was.

You can see the stone foundation on the edge of the gorge next to Stoney Brook. It was once a log cabin that the Halles turned into a Tudor-style "home away from home."

Not far away are stone pillars that once supported a suspension bridge that led to a guest cottage that was surrounded by formal gardens. Ann's Cottage, as it was called, was often used by the Halles for garden parties.

You can also see the cement walls in the creek bed where a swimming pool was built by the Halles.

The children originally swam in Stoney Brook until a snake joined them one day. The children then asked their father for a swimming pool.

Nearby is the site of an old Halle rose garden. It was once divided into four sections for four different-colored roses. Today it is filled with wildflowers.

Ask at the service desk at the Nature Center about the Heritage Library. It was once a tack room filled with Ann Halle's horse show trophies and Walter Halle's African safari mounts.

Sam Halle and Jack Burnett grafted apple trees and the orchard is today the home of the Glen Meadow and Orchard Railroad, with miniature you-can-still-ride-them trains operated by the Lake Shore Live Steamers.

Free rides are offered on select Sunday afternoons. The next dates are 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 7.

The nature center includes a butterfly garden, a 150-seat auditorium, exhibits, wetlands, an outdoor amphitheater and a nature store.

It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

The Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center is next door to the nature center. It is part animal hospital and part zoo.

It treats about 2,000 injured or orphaned animals and birds a year, with the goal of returning them to the wild.

Animals that cannot be released are featured in educational programs.

You probably will see hawks, falcons, turkey vultures, rabbits, turtles and more in the cages outside the center.

It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Penitentiary Glen is a busy park with lots of activities and gets more than 150,000 visitors a year.

The day I visited, the park was filled with butterfly counters, armed with nets and tromping through the park's meadows and fields.

Penitentiary Glen offers seven trail options.

The longest trail is a three-mile section of bridle trail that also doubles as the Buckeye Trail. It loops through the park.

Bobolink Trail is a one-mile loop through meadows. The Gorge Rim Loop is a 1-mile circuit, although it features a shortcut, if you are so inclined. It offers some of the best views in the park.

You will also see stones scattered along the trail - rubble from the last glacier 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Stoney Brook flows to meet the East Branch of the Chagrin River.

In addition to hemlocks, you will find red ashes, beech, hickory, tupelos, maples, chestnuts and oak.

The gorge creates a micro-climate with plants and birds normally found farther north in Canada.

The Kirtland Connector stretches several miles to Kirtland City Hall.

The park also offers snowshoeing at Penitentiary Glen, with rentals in the winter.

The park district bought 88 acres in November 1974 and added nearly 173 acres of Hallefarm in January 1976 from the Halle heirs.

It opened as a public park in July 1980.

Park hours: sunrise to a half-hour past sunset.

The park hosts the Candy Wonderland exhibit from mid-November through Dec. 31 as a holiday exhibit that is centered on the board game Candy Land and the Halle Bros. Co. department stores.

For information, contact Penitentiary Glen Reservation at 8668 Kirtland-Chardon Road, Kirtland, OH 44094; 440-256-1404.

You can contact Lake Metroparks at 440-358-7275 or 800-669-9226. The Internet site is http://www.lakemetroparks.com.