Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Just a short drive from the major metropolitan areas of Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley National Park encompasses 33,000 acres along the banks of the Cuyahoga River. Though such a short distance from urban environments, the park is worlds away. The winding Cuyahoga--the "crooked river," as named by American Indians--gives way to rolling floodplain, steep valley walls and ravines, and lush upland forests. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a refuge for flora and fauna, and provides both recreation and solitude for Northeastern Ohio's residents and visitors. Park trails, from rugged backcountry hiking trails to the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, a graded biking and hiking trail, offer something for everyone.

The park has a rich cultural legacy as well. Remains of the Ohio & Erie Canal, which traveled through the valley in the 19th and early 20th centuries, offer a glimpse into the past. Sustainable farming ventures help preserve the valley's agricultural heritage.

Whether you want to hike, bike, birdwatch, picnic, golf, fish, ski, ride Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, explore the history of the Ohio & Erie Canal, or attend national park ranger-guided programs, concerts, and art exhibits, Cuyahoga Valley National Park has it all.

The Cuyahoga River begins 30 miles east of its mouth in Cleveland, and flows in a great "U" for 90 miles long along the base of the escarpment on which the city of Akron sits. Deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands frame the river valley. Hamlets with historic homes and barns dot the area, giving a sense of times past. Locks, spillways, an aqueduct, and other canal features provide clues to a brief but important period in America's transportation history.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNRA) preserves 33,000 acres along 22 miles of this crooked river between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. It stands as a welcome open green space between the cities of Akron and Cleveland: a great place for get-away day hikes or to take the kids for an afternoon romp or their first taste of fishing.

Size: 33,000 acres

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_nra/oh/oh_cuya_3.htm
http://www.nps.gov/cuva/home.htm

Cuyahoga Valley National Park
15610 Vaughn Road
Brecksville, OH 44141-3018
Phone: 216-524-1497
Toll Free: 800-445-9667



Native American Walks in Ohio
Serpent Mound: On the Trail Memorial

To gain some knowledge about Serpent Mound, you will want to start with a visit to the museum. From there, a climb to the observation tower provides an overview of the area and a good vantage point for pictures. Use a wide-angle lens on a single lens reflex or the wide-angle setting on a point-and-shoot camera. The shadows of a late afternoon sun make the effigy more visible in your pictures. The head of the serpent is in the distance, at the end of the open lawn; the coiled tail, off to the left.

Leave the tower, going toward the serpent head on the blacktop to the right of the effigy. Two hundred feet beyond the tower and 7 5 feet to the right of the trail, a sign at an opening in the woods indicates the entrance to a hiking trail. Head down that trail. With dying red cedars in the understory, the north-facing hillside is covered with young mixed mesophytic forest. As expected, the trees and shrubs that do well on limy soils are prominent in the mix. After dropping for about 50 feet, the trail turns left, following the hillside counterclockwise. The trail is not very well cut out of the slope, and cedar logs have been laid along the downhill side to better define it.

A ravine to the right carries a small stream toward Ohio Brush creek. The hillside has lots of pawpaw trees, indicating a springy environment. After dropping ever so slightly, and following the hillside for a couple hundred feet, the trail makes a split, with the right fork continuing on down to the creek and the left heading upward toward the bluff near the head of the serpent. Take the left trail uphill.

A 75-foot climb up a broad gravel trail with widely spaced waterbars brings you to a point where there is a rocky overhang above. There are also cliffs downslope to the right, and it looks as if at one time there was a trail in that direction. Our trail turns solidly to the left and begins an ascent of perhaps another 30 feet. groundcover myrtle is probably evidence of an attempt to slow down erosion on this steep hillside. A cable to the right of the trail: as a temporary handrail, then a wooden handrail appears Just the trail breaks out on top at the overlook in front of the mount of the serpent. In midsummer, the lavender-colored prairie, plant called wild petunia blooms profusely in the mowed lawn here. It normally is a plant of one to two feet in height, but it is often seen in this part of Ohio in prairie cemeteries or church lawns in full bloom even though it has been mowed to one and one-half inches.

What does the head of the serpent took like to you? A snake with a fully opened mouth? A black rat snake about to eat a bird's egg? A snake about to eat a frog? You can accept one of the many professional evaluations or make up one of your own.

Return down the steps to the trail to the creek and continue following it around the base of the hill to the left. The nature trail drops over eight, steps to the floodplain, which, of course, may be underwater and impassable. In the summer, lots of floodplain species attractive to butterflies bloom here. Ignore the wild paths up the hillside and continue around the base of the hill, passing the point from which a trail once traveled to the serpent's head from this side. There are shallow caves in the soft dolomite halfway up the slope. The trail climbs the hill to just below them, then starts back downhill toward the floodplain. As the trail nears the bottom, a trail goes left back up to the cliffs. Instead, go on to the floodplain trail where, after 100 feet, the trail will rise slightly, then climb eleven steps to just below the soft dolomite. Traveling now on the rocky talus slope, the trail eventually takes a left turn up the slope. After 100 feet of huffing and puffing, you arrive above the cliffs edge close to the coiled tail of the serpent. Fifty feet beyond the edge of the woods is the blacktop path. Turn right, passing a rock wall and rail, to pick up a path to the left that leads to steps up and over the serpent's tail. Pause atop the tail for a picture or two; then take the blacktop path along the left side of the"green" back to the serpent's head. Return to the museum, restrooms, and your vehicle via the path on the other side of the serpent.

Visit this special place often. The spring wildflowers along the nature trail are lovely in May, and the hues of autumn are extraordinary from the overlook where you can look down on the trees. Give some thought as to why you think the earthworks was built. Perhaps it had no great symbolic meaning but was built simply as an expression of pure art.

Distance: 1 mile

Accessibility: Paved trail on bluff readily accessible by physically challenged. Trail below bluff edge inaccessible.
Facilities: Picnic shelter and tables, museum, gift shop, restrooms, drinking water.

Access:
Serpent Mound is on a bluff on the east bank of Ohio Brush Creek, in Bratton Township on the northern edge of Adams County. It is easily reached by driving 3.6 miles west on OH 73 from its intersection with OH 41 at Locust Grove.

Old Man's Cave

The most popular of all the Hocking areas is Old Man's Cave, located on State Route 664. Here at the Upper Falls, the Grandma Gatewood Trail begins its six-mile course connecting three of the park's areas: Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls to Ash Cave. This same trail has been designated as part of Ohio's Buckeye Trail as well as part of two national systems - the North Country Scenic Trail and America's Discovery Trail.

Old Man's Cave derives its name from the hermit Richard Rowe who lived in the large recess cave of the gorge. His family moved to the Ohio River Valley around 1796 from the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee to establish a trading post. He and his two dogs traveled through Ohio along the Scioto River in search of game. On one side trip up Salt Creek, he found the Hocking Region. Rowe lived out his life in the area and is buried beneath the ledge of the main recess cave. Earlier residents of the cave were two brothers, Nathaniel and Pat Rayon, who came to the area in 1795. They built a permanent cabin 30 feet north of the cave entrance. Both brothers are buried in or near the cave. Their cabin was later dismantled and relocated on the nearby Iles farm to be used as a tobacco drying house.

The Old Man's Cave area can be divided into five principal sections found along the valley of Old Man's Creek. In order, they are: Upper Falls, Upper Gorge, Middle Falls, Lower Falls and Lower Gorge. Along the length of the trail the magnificent gorge cuts through the entire 150-foot thickness of the Blackhand sandstone. Carved by the creek, the gorge serves as an avenue for visitors to peer into the earth's subsurface. The full distance of the gorge is approximately one half mile.

Length: Old Man's Cave is approximately 1 mile long and takes about an hour to hike.

Old Man's Cave is one of the six major areas of Hocking Hills State Park. Rich in forested areas and natural wonders, there are over 25 miles of hiking trails in the Hocking Hills State Park system.

Cliffs and waterfalls and towering hemlocks line the trail. Huge rock formations are never more than a stone's throw away and awesome bridges will take your breath away.

From Logan, Ohio:
Take 664 South 12 miles to park. Old Man's Cave is located just off State Route 664 across from the tiered parking lot at Hocking Hills State Park. Within a stones throw is the Naturalist Log Cabin and the newly renovated Hocking Hills State Park Visitor Center.

http://www.hockinghillspark.com/Old%20Man's%20Cave.htm
http://www.hockinghillspark.com/oldmanscavemap.pdf