Cuyahoga Valley National Park | The Beauty Around Us

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Indigo Lake and Brandywine Falls

We vacationed the week of April 20 through April 27 in Ohio. Late morning on Tuesday, April 25th, we drove to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We made three stops in the park.

Our first stop was at the Beaver Marsh.

Our second stop was at Indigo Lake, which was a short drive from the Beaver Marsh. In all the years that we have been visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park, this was our first time seeing this lake. We had seen the sign directing us there, but we never followed the signage. Originally the site of Gray’s Quarry, a gravel and sand pit, Indigo Lake came under the responsibilities of the National Park Service on December 27, 1974, with the creation of the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. The pit was later filled with water by park service personnel to create what was subsequently called “Indigo Lake”, which remains in place sustained by a constant supply of water from several natural springs in the immediate area. The lake is a short walk from the parking lot.

Our third stop was at Brandywine Falls.

A boardwalk takes you to upper and lower observation platforms.

Boardwalk Leading Down to Lower Observation Platform
Brandywine Falls is visible at far left corner.

Brandywine Falls is 65 feet high.
It is one of Ohio’s highest waterfalls.

We climbed back up the stairs to the main boardwalk, turned left and walked to the upper falls observation platform. I didn’t take any picture there.

It was time for lunch, when we returned to our car from viewing Brandywine Falls. We ate lunch at Pat Dees Pub & Eatery in Northfield. Bob ordered a Reuben sandwich, and I ordered boneless chicken wings. Good service; good food.

After lunch we returned to our rental Hudson Airbnb.

We spent all day Wednesday, April 26th, at our Airbnb, with the exception of breakfast. We ate breakfast at Perkins Restaurant in Hudson. Bob ordered an omelet; I ordered a Belgian Waffle. Breakfast was delicious and quite filling.

We made our way back home from Hudson on Thursday, April 27th. We departed Hudson at 7:50 am. We ate breakfast at Bob Evans in Streetsboro. We returned home by 12:00 noon.

This blog post concludes our week-long vacation in Hudson OH.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Beaver Marsh

We vacationed the week of April 20 through April 27 in Ohio. Late morning on Tuesday, April 25th, we drove to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We made three stops in the park.

Our first stop was at the Beaver Marsh. We parked at the Ira Trailhead and followed the short connecting path to the Towpath Trail and turned left. We headed north for 0.25 miles to reach the boardwalk. We saw Canada Geese, turtles, red-wing blackbirds, tree swallows and grackles. There was excitement at the marsh, owing to the fact that Canada Geese are territorial.

Territorial Canada Geese entertained us, while at the Beaver Marsh.

Two Canada Geese
One Goose Appears Dominant.

Three Canada Geese
One Goose Chasing Another

My next blog post will be about our last two stops in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Waterfalls

We vacationed for a week in Ohio. On Sunday, April 23rd, we visited a scenic overlook and saw three waterfalls.

At 6:30 am it was a chilly 36 degrees. It didn’t get much warmer later in the day.

We spent the morning sightseeing. We drove to Bedford Reservation, one of 18 nature preserves managed by Cleveland Metroparks. Bedford Reservation is located in the North Valley region of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The reservation features a deep gorge, which was carved out by Tinkers Creek.

Our first stop in Bedford Reservation was at Tinkers Creek Gorge Scenic Overlook.

From the overlook platform Tinkers Creek is visible.

Our second stop in Bedford Reservation was at Bridal Veil Falls. We parked in the Bridal Veil Falls parking lot and walked across Gorge Parkway to a trailhead.

It was a short walk down boardwalk steps
to reach Deerlick Creek.

We walked over a bridge and along Deerlick Creek to an overlook of the falls.

Our third stop in Bedford Reservation was at Great Falls of Tinkers Creek.

I LOVE this picture of Bob and me at Great Falls of Tinkers Creek.

From Great Falls of Tinkers Creek we drove northeast approximately 10 miles to the village of Chagrin Falls. Located at the heart of Chagrin Falls on North Main Street is a waterfall. From either side of Chagrin River there is a boardwalk that leads down to an observation platform from which to see the Chagrin Falls waterfall. We viewed the waterfall from both sides of the river.

After photographing the waterfall, we climbed back up to Main Street. We went inside the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop, where we bought a bag of popcorn, caramels, a small vanilla custard, a small dish of ice cream and an espresso.

From Chagrin Falls we returned to Hudson. We ate lunch at Yours Truly Restaurant. This restaurant was busy and noisy. We each ordered sandwiches, which were tasty.

After lunch we returned to our Hudson Airbnb rental, where we stayed rest of the afternoon and evening.

Cherry Lane Trail and Great Blue Herons

We vacationed for a week in Ohio. We visited F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm the morning of Friday, April 21st.

F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm is located approximately 12 miles southwest from our Hudson OH rental Airbnb, near Akron OH. Land owned by F.A. Seiberling was purchased by Summit Metro Parks in 1964 to become the Nature Realm. F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm is one of 16 parks managed by Summit Metro Parks.

There are three hiking trails available at F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm: Cherry Lane Trail, Fernwood Loop and Seneca Trail.

A trail map is located at the welcome kiosk.

We chose to hike the Cherry Lane Trail, an easy to navigate 0.6 mile loop trail. Along the trail are placards that identify trees and shrubs. We saw several wildflowers along the trail, as well as two ponds.

We crossed a bridge over Seneca Pond. The F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm Visitor Center
is located on the left, on the hillside.

We saw a turtle and a duck on Seneca Pond.

The highlight of Cherry Lane Trail is a 110-foot-long suspension bridge.

Bob took this picture of me on the suspension bridge.

The suspension bridge crosses over a 45-foot deep ravine.

Soon we came to Echo Pond.

After our hike, we stopped at the Visitor Center.

We are at the Visitor Center.
Aren’t the flowering trees beautiful!

The 10,000-square-foot visitors center includes seasonal exhibits, kids’s areas, live native animals, a naturalist-on-duty to help answer any nature or wildlife questions, and a gift shop. An art exhibit caught my eye, shortly after entering the visitor center.

This community artpiece contains over 300 “treehouses” made from recycled materials.

On our drive back to Hudson, we stopped at the Great Blue Heron Rookery in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Great Blue Heron Rookery at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

We ate lunch at Johnny’s Diner in Hudson. I like the diner’s 50s ambiance; the service and food was good as well. Bob ordered a chili dog with chips. I ordered a BLT with coleslaw. We shared a chocolate shake. Lunch was good.

After lunch we returned to our rental Airbnb where we stayed, for the most part, for rest of the day.

We ate leftovers for dinner, accompanied by broccoli and applesauce.

I acquired a few bug bites on my forehead and back of neck, while hiking in the morning. We drove to a nearby CVS and purchased Chiggerex. According to information about this product, Chiggerex was originally created for chiggers; however, it is an excellent remedy for all types of insect bites. The Chiggerex ointment worked quickly and well, better than any other remedy for insect bites that I have tried!

It started raining around 7:00 pm.

At 6:45 am the next morning (Saturday, April 22nd) it was still raining. There was quite a difference in temperature, too, from earlier in the week. The temperature reached 85 degrees on Thursday, and fell to 46 degrees on Saturday. We spent most of the day at our Airbnb rental, as it was a rainy and chilly day. One of our favorite restaurants in Hudson is The Brew Kettle. We ate dinner at The Brew Kettle that evening. Bob ordered Cajun Chicken Pasta. I ordered Chicken Parma-Que. Have you ever eaten barbecued spaghetti? Barbecued spaghetti is the “Que” part of Chicken Parma-Que. The spaghetti sauce is very reminiscent of BBQ sauce. Surprisingly, delicious! We had leftovers and brought them back to our Airbnb.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Beaver Marsh and Everett Covered Bridge

We vacationed for a week in Ohio.

We departed home on Thursday, April 20th, shortly after 8:00 am, en route Hudson OH. Shortly before 9:00 am we stopped at Mel’s Hometown Restaurant in Corry PA. We were back on the road again at 9:30 am, after a hearty breakfast. We arrived at Cuyahoga Valley National Park at approximately 12:30 pm.

Our first stop at Cuyahoga Valley National Park was at the Beaver Marsh. We parked at the Ira Trailhead and followed the short connecting path to the Towpath Trail and turned left. We headed north for 0.25 miles to reach the boardwalk. Shortly before reaching the boardwalk I discovered that I forgot to insert a memory card into my camera. I had my iPhone camera with me. The wildlife at Beaver Marsh is best photographed with a regular camera, preferably with a telescopic lens. For the most part I limited my photography to the landscape rather than to the wildlife.

Bob took this picture of me on the Beaver Marsh Boardwalk.

We saw several turtles, while at the Beaver Marsh.
These four turtles were close enough to photograph with my iPhone camera.

I turned around at the boardwalk and walked back to the Ira Trailhead.

Just south of the Beaver Marsh boardwalk is Lock 26.

Lock 26 is one of 44 locks that allowed boats on the Ohio & Erie Canal to stair-step up from Lake Erie to the Portage Summit in Akron. According to a marker at Lock 26, Charles and Susan Carter lived near Lock 26. Charles served as a canal boat captain and locktender. The family raised corn and hay on their 56-acre farm to feed their dairy cows. A short walk would take them to the former community of Ira, located near today’s Ira and Riverview roads. Though the community did not have any stores, taverns, or churches, it was a distribution point for dairy products. The Carters and other local farmers brought milk to the Hawkins Cheese Factory for processing. It was one of many in the region, which became known as ‘Cheesedom.’ From the community’s railroad depot, farmers shipped their cheese and fresh milk to urban areas.

As I was walking back to the trailhead, Bob continued walking north another 1 1/4 miles to Szalay’s Farm & Market. I drove from the Ira Trailhead to Szalay’s, where I picked up Bob.

Our second stop in Cuyahoga Valley National Park was at Everett Covered Bridge. It was a short walk from the trailhead to the bridge.

Crossing over Furnace Run, the Everett Covered Bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in Summit County. In the 19th century, it was one of over 2,000 covered bridges in Ohio.

Bob took this picture of me at Everett Covered Bridge.

Here is one last picture of the covered bridge, before we walked back to the trailhead.

We checked in Airbnb “Wildlife and Serenity in Hudson, Ohio” by 2:30 pm. Our hosts allowed for an earlier than 4:00 pm check in. We unpacked the car, settled into the Airbnb and relaxed.

We ate dinner at Fishers Cafe in Peninsula. We each ordered NY Strip Steak dinners that included 10 oz steaks, choice of potato and a salad. Dinner was delicious and filling. We each brought back to the Airbnb about half our steak.

Please stay tuned, as I have much more to share with you about our week-long vacation in Ohio!

Ohio Vacation Day 7 – Waterfall and Ducks

We ate lunch at Fisher’s Cafe & Pub in Peninsula. We ate at Fisher’s earlier in the week. The food and service was good, so we made a return trip. We weren’t disappointed eating here again.

After lunch we drove to Viaduct Park, located in Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Bedford Reservation. In Viaduct Park is a waterfall–the Great Falls of Tinkers Creek. Going to the waterfall was the reason for the drive to Viaduct Park.

This morning, before leaving for the Akron Zoo, we saw a couple Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks in the wetlands.

Back at the Airbnb later in the day we once again saw two Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks. I took a close-up picture of one of the ducks.

It is rare to see these ducks so far north. Our Airbnb hosts said it was the first time they had seen a Black-Bellied Whistling Duck in their pond. We were thrilled to see these ducks and to have the opportunity to photograph them!

The next day (July 2nd) Bob got up at 5:00 am. I got up an hour later. We packed, got showered and dressed, and said goodbye to Deborah (John was on a grocery run). We were on our way home at 7:20 am. By the way we didn’t see any Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks before our departure.

Our first stop was for breakfast at Bob Evans Restaurant in nearby Streetsboro, OH. After a filling breakfast, we were back on the road at 8:15 am.

We returned home around 11:40 am.

We had a wonderful vacation! We look forward to visiting Hudson, OH again and staying (hopefully) at the same Airbnb.

Ohio Vacation Day 6 – Covered Bridge and Waterfall (6/30/2021)

This morning we went for a short bicycle ride. We drove to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We parked in the parking lot across from the Hunt Farm Visitors Center. We rode from the parking lot to the Everett Covered Bridge and back. We rode both the towpath and Everett Road. Total bicycle miles: 2.12 miles.

We parked at the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail parking lot,
located off Bolanz Rd near Riverside Rd,
across the street from Hunt Farm.

Our destination was the Everett Covered Bridge.

Bob rode more miles than me, as he had to ride back to the parking lot twice. The first time he went back for his helmet. The second time he went back for the GoPro, which was lying outside on the back of our car.

After returning to the parking lot and loading the bicycles back onto the car, we drove to Brandywine Falls. This was our second visit this week to Brandywine Falls. We wanted to see the effect of the recent rain on the waterfall.

We viewed the waterfall first from the very top boardwalk (no stairs involved). We didn’t view the waterfall from this vantage point, during our first visit.