The Ledges Trail

Frankie and I had developed a list of must-do activities while visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park: (1) riding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with the bike aboard program, cycling back along the Towpath Trail; (2) hiking the Ledges Trail; (3) having Frankie complete the Junior Ranger Program; and (4) buying Frankie popcorn at the Crooked Kettle Popcorn Company, downstairs from our AirBnB in the village of Peninsula.  After looking at photos while researching the park visit, the Ledges Trail was the experience I was most looking forward to. The Ledges Trail is a loop and stem hike, like a lollipop, with the circular part of the trail looping around the base of a striking sandstone/conglomerate formation, with dramatic cliffs and crevices to explore. 

On the map below, we followed the trail due north from the parking lot, then took the first marked "official" right (there were other herd paths evident) onto the connector trail marked at 0.2 miles from the trailhead.  This led down a gentle grade to a T-intersection with the main loop around the Ledges.  We turned right to travel south first, in order to complete the most ordinary and least ledge-y part of the trail first.

map from National Park Service

There were some small outcrops right away, but they are insignificant compared to the grandeur to be found further along.   

This section also included a few footbridges and a road crossing (the driveway to the parking lot) before leading up toward the Overlook, which the Park Service website claims "an expansive view of the Cuyahoga Valley."  It is certainly a nice spot, but I wouldn't call it a super dramatic view. 

Frankie at the Overlook

After leaving the Overlook, the trail descends to the base of the Ledges.  The entire rest of the trail runs along the base of these cliffy outcrops -- which were much more exciting to me than the nice view from the Overlook. 

Our progress from this point forward was quite slow because I couldn't stop taking pictures. 

We also stopped to do a lot exploring.  We abided by the rules about not climbing the cliffs, tempting as it was in many places, but we did follow herd paths up to the bases of the cliffs and into various little rock rooms.  It was irresistible! 

At the northern end of the loop, there is a beautiful stone staircase ingeniously built by the Civilian Conservation Corps right into the cliffs.  We climbed up the stairs, just for the fun of it, taking a seat on the bench at the top long enough to get a drink before heading back down.  The path at the top continues back toward the parking area, but we wanted to complete the full loop, knowing there was still some cool features to come, specifically the Ice Box Cave. 

gate on the Ice Box Cave to protect bats

In the cover photo for this post, Frankie is walking across the wooden footbridge at the base of the stairs in the image above; I took the photo from underneath the overhang, near the bat gate.  Frankie had already come with me down to check out the cave entrance, but the frigid air emanating from it was too much for him.  It was a shocking contrast to the sticky heat and felt fantastic to me, but despite the boiling hot day, he got chilly quickly and ran back out to the warmth of the trail.  The Ice Box cave really is cold; it is a descriptive name. 

Shortly after the Ice Box Cave area, the Ledges Trails meets back up with the connector trail we'd taken down and our circuit was complete.  We returned the same way we came.  The trail is posted as 2.2 miles, but adding up the sections on the NPS map yields 2.4 miles.  MapMyRide tracked it as considerably more, but there was a lot of geo-drift when we were in rock crevices and at the bases of cliffs where satellite coverage was poor.  Either way, this is a short and spectacular hike.  Highly recommended!