Here in the Cleveland area we are very fortunate to have our excellent Metroparks system, the "Emerald Necklace" of parks which encircle Greater Cleveland. But I have discovered that neighboring Lorain County also has a very nice Metropark system.
This past week I took an outing to another one of the Lorain County parks. A short ride on the Ohio Turnpike took me to the city of Elyria, and from there I drove to the Black River Reservation. The Black River flows twelve miles from Elyria northward to the city of Lorain where it empties into Lake Erie.
I was going to walk the three mile long Bridgeway Trail.
I soon came to the first of two bridges which give the trail its name.
From the bridge I could look down on the Black River and its shale cliffs.
High above is an abandoned railway trestle. It was built in 1906 by the Lorain and West Virginia Railroad and hauled coal and iron ore to the steel mills in the city of Lorain.
The second of the two bridges is actually a double bridge which zig-zags from one side of the river to the other and back again.
While I was walking the trail I almost stepped on this small snake. It's not a very good place for it to sun itself since I doubt if bicyclists on the path would even notice it. Squish!
From the main trail, there was a sign pointing to an unpaved loop path called the Waterfall Trail. Of course, I had to check it out.
The waterfall was more impressive than I was expecting. It was perhaps about thirty feet high. However, the overlook did not provide a very good view since there were so many trees in the way. I could see that there were people down there, so I left the trail and tried to find a path to the falls. I had to jump across a couple rivulets, but I reached a better location for photographs.
Unfortunately I had forgotten the route I took to get to the falls, and when I headed back to the trail, I sank into some mud.
See the lengths to which I will go to get some good photos for my readers!
In spite of that, the waterfalls were an unexpected bonus to a pleasant hike along the Black River.
That's a beautiful waterfall! I'm glad you were able to explore and find a hidden gem. Sorry about your shoe, though! :-D
ReplyDeleteYes, I really was not expecting to encounter such a lovely waterfall. As for the shoes, I had to take a bucket of water and scrub off the mud. The shoes are finally dry and ready for another hike.
DeleteI visited Cascade Park in Lorain many times as a child and loved it. I took my kids when they were small and left almost immediately. There were a lot of seedy looking young adults there, which frightened me, a Mom with little ones. We left almost immediately. This park looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteI assume you are referring to the park in Elyria. I have not been there, but I just looked it up on Google Maps. All of the reviews are very positive, so it sounds as if the place has been made more family friendly.
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