The 228-acre Shreve Lake Wildlife Area is situated in northeastern Ohio in Wayne County, approximately 1.2 miles west of Shreve, north of OH-226. County Road 149 is on the western boundary, Clinton Township Road 138 is on the eastern boundary and Clinton Township Road 316 runs east and west through the area. The area is characterized by moderate to steeply rolling topography with moderately fertile, well-drained soils derived from glacial sandstone.

Shreve Lake Wildlife Area was purchased largely with federal aid funds in 1958. The natural marsh was enlarged by the construction of an earthen fill dam and the diversion of a small stream from the north into the lake. The lake construction was financed under a federal aid Dingell-Johnson project. The dam was completed in 1961 and the 58-acre lake was filled in 1962.