Kendall Hills

Kendall Hills is one of the park's sledding areas. Pine Hollow, Crow Foot Gully and Little Meadow are the access lots. Some slopes are kept clear of sledding to avoid conflicts with cross-country ski trails, and pets are prohibited during sledding. The activity depends on adequate snow, and every downhill run means walking back up.

For a walk, the 3.3-mile Salt Run Trail leaves Pine Hollow on the left when you're facing the hills. The 4.5-mile Wetmore Trail starts across Quick Road; connectors lead downhill to the 1-mile Lake Trail and 2.3-mile Cross Country Trail. Those are individual trail lengths, not one loop from the lot.

The hills were farmed in the 1800s. In 1936, winter sports were spilling out from Kendall Lake's crowded toboggan chutes, and neighbor A.A. Stambaugh agreed to let the public use his land for coasting and skiing. That arrangement brought winter recreation into Kendall Hills.

Cleveland industrialist Hayward Kendall bought much of the surrounding land and left his property to the state, asking that the park be named for his mother, Virginia. Oak, hickory and beech woods have reclaimed former farmland. Civilian Conservation Corps crews planted white and red pines here in the 1930s, and late-summer meadow flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators.