Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Brecksville OH

Cuyahoga Valley NP was an unexpected natural treasure surrounded by an urban landscape.

Located off of/almost surrounding the 77 freeway (correction: the freeway between Akron & Cleveland  is 77; coming from Columbus, you would take 71N) between Cleveland and Akron, it is easy to get to from multiple directions. It is unlike any NP I've been to before because there are really no large untouched-by-man tracts of land; it primarily is the land that is on either side of the Cuyahoga River. And despite hearing road noise almost every time I was in the woods, and encountering homes and commercial buildings more often than not, it was still a joy to be there.

During my day trip, I was only able to make it to two of the parks attractions that the website (http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm) suggested: The Ledges and the Brandywine Falls (and yes, all I could think of every time I heard the name was Fellowship of Ring!)

The Ledges

The Ledges is an area of a sandstone shelf that has produced, overtime when pieces have broken off, boulders and fissures. It is almost magical to climb around these moss covered stones and explore the hidden rooms.

I arrived early morning when it was still cool and the moisture was still heavy in the air. The mist and the dappled sunlight peaking through the trees, along with the crisp aroma of autumn, made the experience very memorable. Very few people were hiking that morning, so even though I could hear traffic noises far off, I felt peacefully isolated as I explored.

At the end of the hike I was rewarded with a view of a true overlook - you know how sometimes you go to parks and the sign says "Overlook" and you hike all the way up there and ta da...nothing but a two story view of a road or parking lot? Well not this one, it was worth the wait!

Walking through the woods to the stairs that would take me down to see the Ledges

Love the morning sunlight through the trees

Here are the steps...made out of what else?  sand stone

These next photos were shot exploring the area the top of the steps...I was so amazed at the change in the landscape: from muti-color hardwood trees and pines to moss and lichen covered stone, live ferns...  and just all of the green.

                 

Moss, lichen, and fern all in one pic!

Sorry for the blurry picture,  but the steps were so cool I had to include even a bad pic of them!

                             

These next pictures are all from exploring only one half of the hiking trail (at the bottom of the steps I turned left instead of right. Next time I'll turn right).  

                             

I really love these hidden areas

                             

Almost looks like this should be in an overhang above water, but a wider shot of this  is below and as you can see...

...just more sand stone. But seeing the layers and knowing the type of rock, this area was buried under water at one point in our recent past.

See that light "line" through the moss? Those are small stones that have been exposed in the sand stone. I thought the contrast was interesting

Beautiful old birch trees

Have I mentioned I want to live here?

And the overlook speaks for itself....

Brandywine Falls was another neat area to visit, but was very touristy as you could essentially drive right to it and had a lot of people. And steps...a lot of steps. Why are there always so many steps?

But it was a nice way to end a most excellent day!

Such a life-like picture...