Kendall Lake Trail

Today was a travel day, marked on the calendar for driving between Mary and Keith's house in Michigan to the next stop on our midwest roadtrip: Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Keith had to work today, but Mary was available, so we dedicated our morning and early afternoon to spending time together.  The only thing driving our departure schedule was my desire to arrive at the Boston Mills Visitor's Center before they closed, so Frankie could pick up his Junior Ranger booklet.  This was important because we had limited time in the park, and we needed to be able to plan around any required ranger programs or specific sites he'd need to visit.  We also needed to pick up some groceries and check into the AirBnb I'd reserved in the little town of Peninsula, right in the center of the park.  So obviously we didn't have time for a big hike, but little hikes are good, too.  

The Virginia Kendall Area is conveniently close to everywhere we needed to be, so after picking up the Junior Ranger booklet, we headed straight over to the Kendall Lake trailhead.  Online mapping showed a mile long loop around a little lake; it seemed like a perfect leg stretcher and I assumed we'd be in and out in half an hour or so.  Spoiler alert: I was wrong -- the trail was much more interesting than I had expected, with exciting plant and animal encounters.

map from Cuyahoga Valley National Park

We also detoured off the route in a few places, sometimes inadvertently, thereby lengthening our route.  We set off on the spur trail shown in brown on the map above, following the sign for the Lake Trail.  Somehow we turned south too soon, missing the tunnel altogether, but didn't realize that until later, as the connector trail we were on (unsigned and not illustrated on the map) joined the official Lake Trail with little fanfare and we continued on our way unsuspecting.   

crested sedge (Carex cristatella)

We popped out into a field on the southeast end of the lake, where the Cross-County Trail and several more connector trails diverged, just to look around.  Since there was a hill, we had to climb up it, but after taking in the small views, returned the way we came to complete the lake circuit.  

purple-headed sneezeweed (Helenium flexuosum)

Then we spotted a beaver, and all forward progress halted.  The beaver was busy having a dinner of spadderdock and was very intent on its meal.  It got very close to us, and we spotted a second beaver swimming around further out.  I didn't have a real camera with me, and wasn't able to get any pictures on the phone, but it was a fantastic experience to spend so much time with the beaver of Kendall Lake.  I had forgotten exactly how enormous beaver can be!  Frankie was very pleased with the lengthy encounter. 

hairy wood mint (Blephilia hirsuta)

I finally tore Frankie away from his new friend and we moved along the trail, crossing the dam at the northwest end of the lake and then climbing the stairs over a small hill. 

downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana)

The trail then crosses the driveway leading to the parking area, and continues east through cattails before crossing a small bridge over a creek.

After the creek, another staircase leads up a hill and into a pine plantation.  The circuit soon reaches the spur that leads back to the parking lot, but from here, we could see the tunnel ahead of us, so of course we continued straight rather than turning back.  Tunnels are always worth exploring. 

After exiting the tunnel, we continued along the trail until we reached the unmarked connector trail we'd accidentally followed at the start of the hike, and then took that back to the car.  MapMyRide tracked our outing at 2 miles, longer than the posted mileage, but the discrepancies are easily accounted for by our many and evident diversions.  Though short, this hike far exceeded my limited expectations.  We were super jazzed to be exploring a new National Park, there were plants to admire that don't grow back home, and we had an amazing wildlife encounter with the beaver.  What a great "on the way" stop this turned out to be!