Posted in Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Beach City Wildlife Area: Dundee Falls

A few weeks ago on a warm winter weekend, we visited Dundee Falls. The waterfall is located in the Beach City Wildlife Area near the town of Dundee, OH. We parked in a dirt and gravel parking area off of Dundee Wilmot Road. An unmarked path at one end of the parking lot led to a stream valley. We turned right and continued down the path a short ways till we heard the sound of falling water. The path leads to the top of the falls. On the right side of the falls (same side as the parking area) a Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, History, Northeastern Ohio

Malabar Farm Maple Syrup Festival – 2016

We attended the 40th Annual Malabar Farm Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday March 5th. From the parking area participants queued for a ride by horse drawn wagon to the festival which was centered around the Malabar Farm sugar shack. There were a variety of wagons available for transporting visitors, some with benches and others with hay bales for seating. The wagons were 2HP - each being drawn by two large draft horses. The horses and wagons were provided by volunteers from the Central Ohio Draft Horse Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Paine Falls Park

Paine Falls Park is a 377 acre Lake County Metro Park located in Painesville, OH. We visited the park last September. From the parking area a one tenth mile trail descends a couple of flights of stairs to a viewing area for the waterfall. The park features a restroom and a picnic shelter. Additional information Lake County Parks & Preserves — This is the location of Paine Falls; check out this page for links to the official site and for information Read more ➜
Posted in Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Gorge Metro Park

Many of the places we hike are in forests, or rural parts of Ohio. Gorge Metro Park is right in the city of Akron and it's spectacular. The park is 155 acres and is located on either side of the Cuyahoga River. There is a dam on the river near the park's center. The dam was built at the former site of a cascade waterfall in 1911 to provide electric power. The power plant is gone, but there is a path to a series of observation decks to view the water cascading over the dam. Upstream of the dam is Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Thompson Ledges

Thompson Ledges is a small park managed by the Thompson Township Park Commission; the township is located in Geauga County in northeast Ohio. To get to the geological formation that makes up the ledges, we entered the driveway of the Thompson Township Park Commission. The driveway ends in a parking area; there are restroom facilities and a trailhead nearby. We weren't sure where the ledges were, so we just headed down the nearest woodland trail which soon lead us to the ledges. Our entire hike was Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, History, Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Harpersfield Covered Bridge MetroPark

We recently visited Harpersfield Covered Bridge Metropark in Ashtabula County. The star attraction of the park is the aforementioned covered bridge. The 228 foot (69.5 m) covered bridge spans the Grand River and is the third longest covered bridge in Ohio. The bridge was built in 1868 replacing a prior bridge that was destroyed by a flood. In 1913, another flood washed away the ground on the northern side of the bridge. A 140-foot (42.7m) steel truss bridge was added on this end. The Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, Northeastern Ohio, Ohio Industrial History, Park review

Deep Lock Quarry Metro Park

Deep Lock Quarry is part of the Summit County Metro Park system. The park has several historical features of interest: a canal lock, a sandstone quarry, and millstones that were created from the quarried sandstone. Hikers at Deep Lock Quarry can take advantage of two trails in the 73-acre park: the Quarry Trail and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail (henceforth referred to as the "Towpath Trail"). Both the Cuyahoga Trail and the Buckeye Trail overlap the Towpath Trail and continue beyond the Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Brandywine and Blue Hen Falls

Just prior to our birding trip to Magee Marsh in May, we visited two waterfalls in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stopped at Brandywine Falls - one of the finest waterfalls in the state of Ohio. Brandywine Falls The falls is located on Brandywine Creek where it flows over a 65-foot (19.8m) sandstone and shale cliff. For information on the falls history, facilities, and travel directions, please see our prior article. Blue Hen Falls After a quick stop at Read more ➜
Posted in Hiking, Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Beaver Marsh

Beaver Marsh is located in Cuyahoga Valley National Park near the Cuyahoga River. Years ago it used to be a junkyard with a small stream flowing through it. A local group cleaned up the junkyard in the mid '80's and then some beavers dammed the stream creating the marsh. The marsh is on a bike / hike towpath through Cuyahoga Valley National Park that extends 110 miles from Cleveland to Akron and beyond. At the marsh, the gravel towpath changes to a boardwalk with small observation Read more ➜
Posted in Flowers, Hiking, Northeastern Ohio, Park review

Pine Hill Park: Crall Woods

Crall Woods is a 97-acre woodland that's one of two tracts of land making up Pine Hill Park in Ashland County. It was named as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1974. According to a sign in the park's kiosk, there are three nature trails at Crall Wood with a total length of 2.45 miles. However, we saw two unlisted trails (one under construction and the other complete) that were not listed on the kiosk. All the trails were wide and well-maintained. In a recent comment Read more ➜