Although the park is surrounded by the Cleveland suburbs it's in a tree-filled
river valley and gives you the illusion of being out in the wilderness.
A number of major roads pass overhead and some of the bridges over the river
are rather pretty.
A River Runs Through It - The Rock River flows North to Lake Erie and carved out the valley in which the park lies. Although it's rather shallow, you do occasionally see people canoing down it. Parts of the park are also designated wetland areas.
A scenic all-purpose trail runs the length of the valley, following the
river in some places and veering off into the woods in others. The trail is
used for just about any type of activity - walking, running, biking and
roller-blading. It's generally pretty flat except for this one section in
the woods... You tend to get a bit hot biking up the hill, but its fun on the
way down!
The park ends in the North at a small marina just before the Cleveland Yacht
Club. This is a nice area to fish, watch the boats and get something cool to
drink. The bridge overhead is Detroit Rd., one of the major roads on the West
Side.
This picture is a game of "roller-hockey" in the marina parking lot - they must have been filming a Nike commercial that day!
It's a tough climb, but if you follow the road up the hill past the marina
you'll end up back in civilization on Detroit Rd. in downtown Rocky River.
It's kind of neat to go over the bridge and look down on the park - you
can really get a sense of how it truly is an oasis in the city. (It's hard
to tell in the pictures, but there are houses lining the rim of the valley.)
Once you cross Detroit road and bike past the art galleries, restraunts and
apartment buildings you find yourself in a nice upper-middle class
neighborhood. Many of the houses sit right above the Lake, and while it may
be scenic in the summer I wouldn't want to face the winter Lake Erie
gales!
There's a road that runs above the Lake and gives you a nice view of the
sailboats, jetskiers and power boats as they make their way into and out of
the Rocky River. There always seems to be a cool breeze blowing, so it makes
for a nice break after biking in the valley.
If you keep following the road along the Lake you'll see a little community
park with a small beach and a great observation deck. Sit down, relax and
enjoy the sunshine! The day I was there I was sitting on the rocks above
the beach watching some dogs play in the surf, when one of the owners picked
up a big piece of driftwood to
throw to his dog. When the dog saw this huge log he started jumping up and
down excitedly because here was the Mother Of All Sticks and he was going to
get to chase it! It took all of his strength, but the owner managed to heave
it about eight feet into the Lake, and the dog immediately jumped in and
plowed through the waves after it. He managed to get his mouth around one of
the branches and somehow dragged it back up onto the beach! It made me laugh
to see how proud of himself the dog was afterward.
