Weekend Visit in Cuyahoga County, Ohio: Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Post #5)
Our fifth stop in Cuyahoga Valley National Park was at Ritchie Ledges. The Ledges Trail is approximately 2 miles long. The trail begins above the ledges and then drops down below them. It was noon by the time we arrived at Ritchie Ledges. It was hot, and we were hungry. In addition we learned that one of the trail attractions, the Ice Box Cave, was closed in an effort to slow the spread of a disease to the park’s bat population. Given the heat of the day, our hunger and the closure of the Ice Box Cave we opted to cross the meadow from the parking lot and visit only the Ritchie Ledges Overlook.
I used Microsoft’s Snipping Tool to cut out the Ledges Trail portion of the map that is provided on the Cuyahoga Valley National Park website’s map page.
From the parking lot the walk across the meadow to the bottom left corner of the map didn’t look far. Walking across that meadow with the noon day sun directly above you was far enough!
This view was our reward for crossing that meadow to Richie Ledges Overlook!
I DEFINITELY want to return to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in the fall. Imagine how beautiful that view will look with autumn foliage!
And, oh yes, I would like to walk the Ledges Trail, if only to view these magnificent rocks at their base.
Ritchie Ledges
We encountered a reptile, while at the overlook.
Thank goodness it was only a baby snake!
This is a Northern Ringneck Snake.
The snake was shedding its skin.
Here is a close-up picture of the snake’s head.
I wonder if the snake is having lunch, while it is shedding its skin? That’s a black ant on its head!
We spent a little over 30 minutes at Ritchie Ledges. From Ritchie Ledges we left the park and ate lunch at a nearby Texas Roadhouse. We both ordered salads and a beverage. Something we have to learn to do is carry water with us, when hiking. We always forget to do this. Well, I went through two large glasses of iced tea rather quickly and couldn’t finish my salad.
If you missed our first four stops in Cuyahoga Valley National Park you will find links to each stop in the list shown below. I will share photographs from our sixth stop in my next blog post.
Stop #1: Boston Store Visitor Center
Stop #2: Brandywine Falls
Stop #3: Blue Hen Falls
Stop #4: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
The Beauty Around Us 
2 Responses to “Weekend Visit in Cuyahoga County, Ohio: Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Post #5)”
Linda, this looks like a great place to hike and a beautiful view. The snake is neat, great sighting. My hubby and I love Texas Roadhouse, we have one closeby . So we go at least once a month.
Oh, I so would want to go back there in the fall.
I have seen a lot of those snakes in my time and never seen one bigger than about a foot long. We lived in Tennessee for a couple years and had chickens…the chickens would catch them and I assume eat them. One would have one and all the others would come running. I don’t know why I didn’t actually watch to see what happened.