The Ledges Trail at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The Ledges Trail at Cuyahoga Valley National Park is the perfect family hike!

After spending a few days on the trails of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I think we have agreed on a favorite hike: The Ledges Trail. It’s long enough to be an adventure (but not exhausting), it’s varied enough to hold our interests, and it is stunningly beautiful!

The trailhead is marked and visible by the parking lot, which it shares with visitors of the Ledges Shelter. The shelter is a Civilian Conservation Corps project with picnic tables, fireplaces, and water fountains (though they were not yet turned on during our visit).

The trail is shaped like a squished lollipop and it’s just under two miles long. It starts off fairly simply, looking like many of the forests we have here in Virginia. At this point, it was mostly smooth dirt with few rocks or roots.

When we reached the looped portion of the trail, we were on top of the plateau! Turning right, we took the trail down and around to the front side of the formations.

We learned from the ranger at the trailhead that these formations are made of Sharon conglomerate, a type of conglomerate/sandstone mix, and that they formed over 300 million years ago. He said that they’re sometimes referred to as the Ritchie Ledges (after one former landowner).

The sides of many of these formations were covered in moss and lichens and ferns were sprouting from crevices. It was green in every direction!

As we progressed down the trail, the exposed side of the rocks grew larger and larger. We were moving on a slight downgrade, but it felt like the rocks were growing up around us. The trail also became a little harder to navigate, starting to fill with rocks and roots.

We rounded one corner to discover the Ice Box Cave. This landmark used to be a frequent stop for summer visitors. As its name suggests, it’s much cooler than the air outside and provided relief to hikers on the Ledges Trail. Several years ago, the bats who inhabit the cave were diagnosed with white-nose fungus and the cave was closed to hikers.

While it does look like it could hold a few hikers, I’m not sure I’d have wanted to go in if I could! It’s reportedly more than 50 feet deep.

We did manage to squeeze into one narrow formation just off the trail. Accessing this narrow area required a bit of climbing and a lot more ducking and shimmying than I would have liked.

Inside we found several petroglyphs, just a few feet off the ground. They are more than 200 years old and were carved by a former owner of the land. I wondered if he sat as he carved them since they were nowhere near eye-level.

We opted to use the stone steps to exit the Ledges Trail. These stairs, another CCC project, were built following a natural break in the rock formations. They were not very steep, but were uneven and a little slippery in spots. We handled them well, but other hikers chose to use the connector trail a bit farther down.

Hiking the Ledges Trail was a perfect family activity for us. It was interesting and just the right length for an easy afternoon hike. Even my oldest enjoyed exploring the formations and learning about the landscape!

Plan Your Visit

Cuyahoga Valley National Park
The Ledges Trailhead
405 Truxell Road
Peninsula, Ohio 44264
website