- Joined
- Aug 21, 2018
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- 770
I was on my own last weekend so I decided to try a hike that Mrs. TractorDoc would be less than thrilled to join me on. We had a good amount of rain days prior, and I decided to find my way to Contour Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This was not that long of a hike at about four miles; half of it follows the canal towpath trail so that portion is quite easy. The other half involves making your way up the walls of a steep ravine (or walking up the creek bed) to reach the waterfall. That is the fun part -- this waterfall is not on any of the park maps and no offical trail leads to it. 
Pictures were all taken with the cell phone so I'm not sure how the resolution will show up on the forum. Also doubt this is worthy of being a featured post, but just in case here is a picture of the waterfall (in a vertical format!).
A short distance from the trailhead I encountered a flock of geese. Sometimes geese can be mean and chase you, luckily this group left me alone.
A Great Blue Heron in the old canal.
Reaching the drainage that led to the waterfall involved crossing the old canal. I was able to hop across a couple rocks and kept my feet somewhat dry. . . for the time being anyway. The drainage and creek that lead up to the falls:
The path forward more or less looked like this. Fun stuff!
Had to navigate several smaller cascades before reaching the big waterfall.
First sighting of Contour Falls.
And once again the close up view. Much less water will flow in the warmer months/over the summer.
My feet were wet by this point, so I decided to walk the creek bed back to the towpath. This is what the "trail" looked like.
Encountered some more wildlife on the way out.
Crossing over the Station Road Bridge before reaching the trailhead.
"Steam in the Valley" will be taking place in CVNP the next two weekends; the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society will be bringing the Nickel Plate Road 765 steam locomotive to the park to run the rails. I also scouted out several off-trail spots to get some pictures as the train passes by before heading home for the day.
If anyone is interested in the video version of this hike. . . here you go!
Pictures were all taken with the cell phone so I'm not sure how the resolution will show up on the forum. Also doubt this is worthy of being a featured post, but just in case here is a picture of the waterfall (in a vertical format!).
A short distance from the trailhead I encountered a flock of geese. Sometimes geese can be mean and chase you, luckily this group left me alone.
A Great Blue Heron in the old canal.
Reaching the drainage that led to the waterfall involved crossing the old canal. I was able to hop across a couple rocks and kept my feet somewhat dry. . . for the time being anyway. The drainage and creek that lead up to the falls:
The path forward more or less looked like this. Fun stuff!
Had to navigate several smaller cascades before reaching the big waterfall.
First sighting of Contour Falls.
And once again the close up view. Much less water will flow in the warmer months/over the summer.
My feet were wet by this point, so I decided to walk the creek bed back to the towpath. This is what the "trail" looked like.
Encountered some more wildlife on the way out.
Crossing over the Station Road Bridge before reaching the trailhead.
"Steam in the Valley" will be taking place in CVNP the next two weekends; the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society will be bringing the Nickel Plate Road 765 steam locomotive to the park to run the rails. I also scouted out several off-trail spots to get some pictures as the train passes by before heading home for the day.
If anyone is interested in the video version of this hike. . . here you go!
