OCTOber 2021
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Where: northeastern Ohio
Directions: Interstate 80 east or west to Route 9
Good to Know:
* Dogs are not permitted on the East rim mountain bike trails
* Dogs are not allowed to ride the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
Why so good:
DOGS ARE WELCOME ON THE TRAILS IN A NATIONAL PARK.
Raise your hand if you knew that America’s first national park of the 21st Century was created in..............Cleveland? To the first people who came here 12,000 years ago the Cuyahoga was the “crooked river.” Locals began coming to the orange and yellow rock formations on William Ritchie’s land to picnic as early as the 19th century. Cleveland coal baron and indus- trialist Hayward Kendall acquired this property in the early 1900s to use as a hunting retreat. Upon his death in 1927 the property transferred to his wife, Agnes, with the stipulation that it would eventually become a park named in honor of his mother, Virginia. Agnes Kendall was not interested in the property and turned it over to the State in 1929. During the Depression of the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps was based in Virginia Kendall Park constructing trails and building the rustic Happy Days lodge for urban children. The buildings were designed to harmonize with the natural patterns of the land using locally quarried sandstone and wormy chestnut.As befits its history as a recreation destination, the steep-valleyed Cuyahoga permits dogs on its trails. At a time when the most popular national parks are forced to implement a reservation system just to get in here i sone flying under the radar
THE VARIETY OF CANINE HIKING OPPORTUNITIES.
A rare American urban national park, Cuyahoga doesn’t evoke mythic open spaces. But it does manage to offer 125 miles of trails wedged in between highways, farms, and neighborhoods. You can indulge in quick leg-stretchers of winding, all-afternoon hikes. Choose from hikes through classic northern woodlands or wetlands excursions or explorations of heritage farm fields. There are waterfall hikes and a multitude of streams lubricating the gorges that cut through the park. History buffs can find trails to old mills, centuries-old homesteads, or covered bridges. The Lake Trail is a gentle trip around Kendall Lake ona wide, wooded path. Head
towards the dam area for the easiest access for your dog to get a swim. Athletic dogs will welcome the chance to challenge the hills of the Salt Run Trail. Steps buried in the slope ease the ascents but this trot is sure to set your dog to panting. These pretty woods serve up long views with little understory from a paw-friendly dirt trail. Cuyahoga is packed with hikes on mown grass trails across enchanting hills - your dog will love these romps as much as the sledders after a snowfall.
LEDGES.
A few million years before the National Park Service arrived this part of Ohio was submerged under an ocean. The swirling waters went to work on the underlying sandstone, known as the Sharon Conglomerate, cutting away massive rock formations known as “Ledges.” Small pebbles rubbed round by continual tumbling in the fast-moving primeval streams—almost all made of quartz washed down from Canada—are known as “lucky stones.” At Cuyahoga the easy-trotting ramble around Ritchie Ledges covers 2.2 miles in a loop that hugs the towering rocks shrouded in virgin hemlocks and yellow birches. There are plenty of cracks and crevasses for your dog to investigate, including Ice Box Cave that disappears 50 feet into the Ledges. Be on the lookout for profiles of men and a horse carved into the rock face by pioneer farmers on this marquee hike. The west-facing overlook is a popular destination on the Ledges Trail, especially at sunset.
TOWPATH TRAIL.
The main walking path through the park is the nearly 20 miles of the Towpath Trail along the route of the historic Ohio & Erie Canal. Ten trailheads make it easy to hike the crushed limestone path in biscuit-size chunks.
NEARBY PARKS.
If you are captivated by the area’s fun ledges there are plenty of convenient parks that feature these hikes: the Whipps Ledges and Worden in Hinckley Reservation; Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park; Gorge Metro Park; and Thompson Ledges Township Park among them.
