Picnic area · Cuyahoga Valley National Park
CCC-built group picnic shelter beside the Ledges Trailhead
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Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cuyahoga Valley Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Cuyahoga Valley audio tourRecorded for this place
The Ledges“Up ahead is the Ledges trailhead, and I'd come for the narrow passages beneath the sandstone cliffs. Allow about an hour and a half for the one-point-eight-mile loop, with uneven rocks and steps.”
Plays as you drive up to Ledges Shelter in the Parkwolf Cuyahoga Valley Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Ledges Shelter is a large, rustic picnic building in the Virginia Kendall area, beside the Ledges Trailhead. It is set up for group meals and gatherings, with an enclosed stone-and-wood room, a long covered pavilion and a broad grassy playfield. Groups and families of up to 75 can reserve it for a fee. The Ledges Trail starts right beside the shelter, so you can pair a picnic with a walk to the area's rocky ledges. The grassy field gives you room to step back and see the stone room and pavilion together.
Civilian Conservation Corps workers built the shelter during the Great Depression. Its local Berea sandstone and “wormy chestnut” came together in a building that still shows the CCC's rustic park style; the chestnut was salvaged from American chestnut trees killed by blight. The shelter sits within the Virginia Kendall State Park Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wildlife
319 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
103 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
248 sightingsBeaverMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
494 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
102 sightingsTrumpeter SwanMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cuyahoga Valley. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateLedges Trail1.8 mi · 1.5 hr · At the trailheadA rocky loop through sandstone walls and a remarkable staircase.
EasyPine Grove Trail2.2 mi · 1.4 hr · 0.2 mi awayTwo shaded miles through planted pines, footbridges, and wooded ravines.
EasyForest Point Trail0.5 mi · 30 min · 0.3 mi awayA flat half-mile walk with a picnic shelter at the start.
EasyHaskell Run Trail0.6 mi · 35 min · 0.4 mi awayA short ravine loop with a connector to the Ledges
ModerateBoston Run Trail3.1 mi · 2 hr · 0.6 mi awayA shaded stream loop over rocky ravines and ridges
EasyLake Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.9 mi awayA gentle loop threads a stone tunnel and marshy lake shore.
ModerateCross Country Trail2.5 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA hilly dirt loop through a field returning to forest.
ModerateSalt Run Trail3.3 mi · 2 hr · 1.3 mi awayA 3.3-mile woods loop with bridges, ravines and a long stair climb.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayThe LedgesWalk sandstone crevices, then catch a west-facing view over the valley.
Picnic area · 0.3 mi awayOctagon ShelterA low-roofed CCC shelter beside the Ledges trails.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayHappy Days LodgeA CCC-built lodge for concerts, programs and special gatherings.
Sight · 0.9 mi awayKendall LakeA CCC lake, fishing pier and shelter in one easy stop.
Store · 1.3 mi awayTrapp Family FarmEggs and seasonal produce from a draft-horse farm stand.
Sight · 1.3 mi awayKendall HillsSledding slopes in winter; trails and meadows through the year.
Store · 2.3 mi awayTrail Mix PeninsulaGifts, ice cream, and a train track right beside the shop.
Store · 2.4 mi awayPurplebrown Farm StoreLocal groceries, coffee, and seasonal lunch in Peninsula.Parkwolf’s Cuyahoga Valley ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
