Vol. 53 No. WINTER 2O2 GREEN ISLANDS A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FROM METRO PARKS, SERVING SUMMIT COUNTY 4 Very Amusing Historic amuse- ment parks in the Gorge 7 In Your Back Yard Groundhogs and baby animals 0 Top Spots Best places to cross-country ski Our parks are like green islands BOARD of PARK in an urban landscape. commissioners IN THIS ISSUE Very Amusing..................... 4 In Your Back Yard.................. 7 On the Trail: Meadow Trail ......... 0 Top Spots: Cross-Country Skiing .... 0 My Favorite Place................. Kid Craft: Natural Suncatcher ....... Winter Sports ................... 2 BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS Carol M. Curtis, Chair Roland H. Bauer Carol M. Curtis Roland H. Bauer Frances S. Buchholzer Frances S. Buchholzer Keith D. Shy, Director-Secretary The park district’s governing body is appointed by the Summit County Probate Judge. They serve overlapping three-year terms and are assisted EDITORS by the director-secretary, who oversees the work of full-time and part-time employees, seasonal workers and volunteers. For more information, please Nathan Eppink call the administrative offices at 330-867-55. Chief of Marketing & Communications Timothy Hite Marketing/Communications Specialist ART DIRECTOR ABOUT the Karl Simonson cover Graphic Designer/Production Coordinator Mary Campbell Cave in Gorge Metro Park has been visited for centuries, long before amusement parks (“Very Amusing,” page 4) popped up in the Gorge. In 759, 2-year-old Mary Metro Parks, Serving Summit County Campbell was captured in Pennsylvania by Delaware Indians 975 Treaty Line Rd. and reportedly brought to the cave, becoming the first white Akron, OH 4433-5837 child in the wild frontier of the Western Reserve. 330-867-55 F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm: 330-865-8065 Seasonal Information: 330-865-8060 PARK news Volunteer Information: 330-865-8047 • Our 90-year history book, published by the University of Akron Press, Photos contributed by: Jerry Cannon J.J. Prekop Jr. Karl Simonson is now available. “Steps in Time: Ninety Years of Metro Parks, Serving John Phillips Dennis Roliff Mark Szeremet Summit County” can be purchased at the gift shop at F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm. 828 Smith Rd., Akron This magazine is mailed free of charge to Summit County residents. To join the mailing list, send your name and mailing address to [email protected] • The Twinsburg Ledges Area, part of Liberty Park, opened October 25. or call 330-867-55. The Ledges Trail passes by an incredible system of ledges and a wetland. Green Islands can be downloaded online: 9999 Liberty Rd., Twinsburg summitmetroparks.org • Metro Parks will break ground on the new multi-purpose Freedom Trail in spring. It will follow the former Freedom Secondary railroad corridor and connect Akron to Kent. For more news, visit our website: summitmetroparks.org Printed on FSC-certified Chorus Art Silk; a 30% post-consumer, processed chlorine-free recycled paper. 2 ©20 Metro Parks, Serving Summit County GREEN ISLANDS Magazine | WINTER ’2 PARK news (continued) RECYCLE YOUR The park district “recycles” Christmas trees by chip- ping them into mulch. Drop off your tree, cleaned of all decorations and tinsel, through January 3 at the following locations: FIRESTONE METRO PARK Little Turtle Pond | 2400 Harrington Rd., Akron FURNACE RUN METRO PARK Brushwood Area | 4955 Townsend Rd., Richfield GOODYEAR HEIGHTS METRO PARK Main Entrance | 2077 Newton St., Akron SAND RUN METRO PARK Treaty Line Area | 995 Treaty Line Rd., Akron SILVER CREEK METRO PARK Big Oak Area | 599 Medina Line Rd., Norton Friends Hires Coordinator corner Friends of Metro Parks hired Bridget Garvin Ambrisco in October as its new part-time organizational development and advancement coordinator. She will facilitate the group’s board activities, fund-raising efforts and com- munity outreach initiatives. Ambrisco has a master’s degree in environmental studies from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and most recently served as the director of volunteer programs for the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. For information about joining Friends of Metro Parks, including a list of benefits, visit friendsofmetroparks.org. Friends of Metro Parks is a 50(c)(3) organization that supports the park district in many ways, including contacting legislators and educating visitors about important issues. Paid memberships are available for individuals and families, and membership dues allow Friends to support the mission and programs of the park district. Membership is tax deductible and good for one year. GREEN ISLANDS Magazine | WINTER ’2 VERY AMUSING Courtesy, Akron-Summit County Public Library Library Public Public County County Akron-Summit Akron-Summit Courtesy, Courtesy, heer sandstone cliffs, Senormous boulders perched at incredible angles and roar- ing whitewater have long lured visitors to the banks of the Cuyahoga River where it divides Akron from Cuyahoga Falls. Today, visitors know the area as Gorge Metro Park (60 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls), hugging the banks of the river as Old Maid’s Kitchen, known today as Mary Campbell Cave, circa 890s it begins its meandering 4 GREEN ISLANDS Magazine | WINTER ’2 VERY AMUSING Amusement parks draw crowds to the Gorge in 800s, early 900s Sarah Vradenburg turn toward Cleveland and helps opened High Bridge to earn its signature Crooked River Glens. Taking its name moniker. That part of the river, flow- from a high bridge that ing south from downtown Cuyahoga spanned the Cuyahoga Falls and around the big bend, has seen at Prospect and Front more than its share of adventure and streets, site of today’s sightseers. In fact, two private amuse- High Bridge Glens city ment parks, including examples of early park, Loomis and Parks rollercoasters, once were major draws built a family attraction. Its ornate two-story to the area. Trolley and Interurban Bridge, late-890s pavilion offered dining, Although area residents had long dancing and performances by enter- car pushed by young men eager to known about the Gorge, its appeal tainers from singers to acrobats. earn a few cents per trip. A merry-go- widened in 879, when Cuyahoga Falls Picnic tables and benches strewed the round and Florida museum sporting hardware store owner L.W. Loomis grounds. What some claim to have alligators rounded out the street-level and business partner Harvey Parks been the nation’s first rollercoaster attractions. sat near the pavilion. However, modern In the park’s heyday, more than 8,000 visitors shouldn’t people came to High Bridge Glens imagine a huge daily aboard up to 60 trains that pulled wooden frame up to the tracks opposite the park carrying linked cars entrance. The rail lines were eager over dizzying heights to attract business and promoted and speeds, but instead the work of photographers selling Courtesy, Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society Courtesy, a circular inclined track stereographic images of the river and High Bridge Glens picnic shelter and dancing pavilion, 885 carrying an old coal its magnificent natural features. continued on page 6 5 GREEN ISLANDS Magazine | WINTER ’2 continued from page 5 Courtesy, Akron-Summit County Public Library Public County Akron-Summit Courtesy, miniature houses and pint-sized High Bridge Glens was wildly popular three-masted ships. for about a decade, although as a summer resort its appeal was limited. Although the rough-and-tumble river Soon, rail companies had more than is wild as it leaves the Falls, it grew enough business hauling freight, and High Bridge Glens footprint sketched out quiet enough downriver to accommo- by former naturalist Mark Ludwig excursion trips to High Bridge Glens date a hand-pulled ferry. Hikers who found themselves too tired at the end Understanding the attraction of the of their walk could pay a dime for a river, Loomis and Parks built a series leisurely ride upriver. Those who kept of stairs and walks from Front Street going could cross a wire suspension south along the west bank of the river bridge near where the river bends and traveling down toward the water. north. Greeting these brave ones At one point the trail opened on a were the Weeping Cliffs, so named plateau offering croquet courts and because many natural springs met benches with colorful beach umbrellas. their end in the towering sandstone In 9, construction of the Northern A nearby ledge earned the name of wall, causing the rocks to seep contin- Ohio Traction & Light Power Plant on the Lover’s Retreat. The more adventur- uously. Hikers venturing farther could Cuyahoga River, north of the dam, con- tributed to the end of High Bridge Glens. ous continued downward and south. get a glimpse of Mary Campbell Cave, Children were met at one point then known as Old Maid’s Kitchen, waned. Loomis and Parks sold their by manmade Mirror Lake, with its across the Big Falls. interest and the new owners began to sell alcohol. High Bridge Glens gained a rowdy reputation and families stopped attending. Finally, the region’s need for electric- ity dealt the Glens a final blow. Ohio Edison began construction of a dam on top of the Big Falls. Even before the concrete went up, the thick forest on either side of the river was felled. Eventually, the waters behind the dam flooded many of the caves and ledges In this 90 photo, Estella Chamberlin and John Dana Phillips pose on a date in High that had put High Bridge Glens on Bridge Glens. The couple later married. the map. continued on page 8 6 GREEN ISLANDS Magazine | WINTER ’2 IN YOUR BACK YARD GROUNDHOG (Marmota monax) Hibernation helps animals survive winter when Nature Notes food sources are scarce, and when it comes to local hibernators, the one animal that usually comes to • The groundhog is one mind is the groundhog, also called a whistle pig or of only a few true Ohio woodchuck.