Saturday, December 26, 2020

Ledges Trail - Cuyahoga Valley National Park


The Ritchie Ledges are a mesa-like geographic feature in the Virginia Kendall Unit of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Composed of Sharon Conglomerate laying atop layers of less resistant shale, sandstone, and siltstone, the rock forms a 75-acre capstone that is thirty to forty feet higher than the surrounding terrain. An arrowhead-shaped 1.8-mile loop trail along the base of the cliffs encircles the mesa. The trail network and other improvements in the area were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Located in the southeast corner of the park, the Ledges is about a 15-minute drive from the Boston Mill Visitor Center. The trailhead is located north of county road 187, known as Truxell Road west of the Ledges and Kendall Park Road east. A large parking area is located near the trailhead containing 233 paved spaces including 8 accessible. There is no bus or RV parking available. Picnic tables and a reservable shelter are also located near the trailhead. We hiked the southern two-thirds of the loop in a counter-clockwise direction during our November 2019 trip to the park.

Trailhead informational kiosk

Ledges Shelter

The main access trail is an old road

Approaching our turn to the right

An informational display and map

A single bench marks the trail junction

Approaching the edge of the ledge

Rock fracture

A wide fracture

Typical trail conditions atop the ledges

A narrow fracture

Loop trail junction at the base of the ledges

Typical trail conditions on the east side of the ledges

A narrow fissure

A much wider gap

The missing slab of rock is ...

... across the trail

Storm debris

The longest bridge on the trail

Descending to cross another drainage

Crossing the road

Southern end of the grassy meadow

Restrooms were closed for the season

Picnic area

View from the overlook

Another view

Looking back as we descend to the base of the ledges

Signpost

A bit of uphill hiking

Cliffs almost hidden by the trees

Trees growing out of rocks

A seemingly solid wall

An easier part of the trail

Walking along the base

Boardwalk around the base of one ledge

The trail veers away from the ledges

Typical trail conditions on the west side

Back at the base of the ledges

A wide fissure

An even wider fissure

Time to head back to the shelter and parking area

Atop the ledges again

Back to the information display and bench behind the tree

There is no entrance fee at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

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