Helen Hazen Wyman Park was the first park to be acquired by Lake Metroparks in 1959. The park system at that time was known as the Lake County Metropolitan Park District. This property along the banks of the Grand River was donated by William Wyman in memory of his mother, Helen Hazen Wyman. More than a century ago, this site was the center of a busy industrial area that included a sawmill, a leather tannery, a carding works for processing wool, an ashery for making lye for soap production, and an iron furnace. A few foundation stones are the only remaining evidence of these enterprises.

Within the park boundaries, Big Creek flows past the picnic area and empties into the Grand River. Kellogg Creek flows into Big Creek near the parking lot. People cross the creek and floodplain to fish the river for steelhead trout and smallmouth bass. Look for bank swallows and cedar waxwings that catch insects above the waters of Big Creek.