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KIRTLAND,
Ohio — My winter hike into Stebbins Gulch never took
place.
Big
January blizzard. No way to get to the Holden Arboretum
east of Cleveland in Lake County.
The
hike was pushed back to May. It became a spring hike.
Stebbins
Gulch sounds like a place you’d find in the slickrock
country of southern Utah or perhaps in West Texas. It is
actually a picturesque and rugged ravine that houses
Stebbins Run, a cold-water creek that tumbles into the
East Branch of the Chagrin River. It lies east of the
arboretum in northwest Geauga County, Ohio.
It
features rocky outcroppings and waterfalls. Stebbins Run
is a noisy little stream that gurgles and splashes with
gin-clear water. It is lined by trees and, in some places,
cliffs.
Stebbins
Gulch is the crown jewel of the Holden Arboretum’s
natural areas and one of the most unspoiled in Northeast
Ohio. It is also one of the best day hikes in Ohio, with a
remoteness that is surprising.
The
gorge is up to 200 feet deep and up to 500 feet wide. It
has six waterfalls, two of which are about 20 feet tall.
The stream drops 100 feet in the Holden-owned section that
covers 825 acres on both sides of the ravine.
The
gorge features five geological layers, mostly shales and
sandstones. The rocks vary in color from tans and buffs to
dark grays and blacks with bits of crystalline and white
quartz pebbles.
The
bedrock ravine system traps cool air in the summer and
keeps out colder air in the winter. It has its own unique
microclimate that is more like Ontario than Northeast
Ohio, rarely climbing above 75 degrees.
Once
you are in the gorge, there is no trail. You are hiking in
and along the rocky stream.
The
fern-lined canyon narrows and the walls rise as you hike
up the rock-filled streambed. The features you find depend
on the rock type involved.
The
cliffs, up to 75 feet high, are most dramatic where the
harder sandstone overhangs the gorge. The softer shale
below has been washed away by Stebbins Run.
It
was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National
Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior in
1968.
The
only way to see Stebbins Gulch is to sign up in advance
for guided monthly 2.5-mile hikes that are offered by the
arboretum.
I
was among the 30 people who met on a Saturday afternoon at
the arboretum’s main building off Sperry Road. We met
our guides, Tony and Fred, got a brief introduction to
what was in store and then we carpooled to an unmarked
grassy parking area about two miles away off Mitchell
Mills Road.
We
set off into the woods and slowly made our way into
Stebbins Gulch. We stopped along an exposed bank to learn
about the shale and sandstone.
The
rocks in the gulch are up to 370 million years old and are
the remnants of an ancient mountain range that predated
the Appalachians. The deposits were at the bottom of
ancient oceans.
The
harder Berea sandstone that forms the waterfalls and most
striking cliffs are similar to the rock found in Bedford,
Chagrin Falls, Berea and North Olmsted.
Around
the corner, we walked in the stream to the edge of a
waterfall that dropped about 18 feet. The water seemed to
slip-slide over the gray shales at what’s called Winter
Wren Falls, unofficially nicknamed for the rare wrens that
nest in the nearby hemlocks.
We
then backtracked and headed upstream. Walking wasn’t
always easy. We slogged slowly, climbing waterfalls,
scrambling over logjams, fallen boulders and landslides,
carefully stepping from rock to rock in midstream and
bushwhacking 1.5 miles upstream without a trail. We were
advised by the guides to seek out the lowest spot possible
to place our feet.
There
are several small waterfalls, 3 to 4 feet tall. You aren’t
walking in the stream all the time; you cut from bank to
bank. Our guides pointed out fossils of giant ferns and
squid-like creatures captured in the rocky layers.
About
eight hikers took spills, because walking on wet rocks
covered with green algae was a lot like ice skating. The
water at its deepest was about knee high in some pools.
But the stream can rise 4 to 5 feet in minutes after heavy
rains, capable of washing house-sized boulders downstream.
The
guides helped everyone up what was called the Big Falls, a
20-foot climb. With nearby cliffs, it was one of the most
impressive spots along the hike.
Above
the falls, the canyon narrows. There is a flat streambed
and vertical walls. There is also a climb up a steep, wet
rocky slope to the exit trail.
Stebbins
Run has, in places, cut beneath the groundwater table so
that water trickles from cliffs and seeps into the stream.
Footwear
was strange. Many in our party wore tennis shoes. I opted
for hiking boots for traction and was willing to let them
get wet. So did others.
Some
of the Stebbins Gulch veterans opted for knee-high rubber
boots. That may be the best footwear on winter hikes but
they really weren’t necessary on our late-spring hike
with low water levels.
The
only other thing you need is a sturdy stick or a hiking
staff.
It
was my second hike in the Stebbins Gulch. I had done a
winter hike in 2000. In the cold, Stebbins Gulch becomes a
winter wonderland decorated with giant icicles hanging
from cliffs and snow clinging to the hemlocks.
The
sandstone lets the water flow through the rock. Springs in
the cliffs add to the ice formations and the flow of the
stream. Walking in the stream on a frosty hike surely
doesn’t appeal to everyone.
The
gorge has frequent slumps, landslides and large rockfalls.
It also has distinct flora and fauna, due to its unique
geology. There are some old-growth trees because the gorge
was not logged or grazed because of its rugged topography.
The
south side of the ravine includes a beech-maple forest
owned by Holden Arboretum.
Admission
on a Stebbins Gulch hike is $5 for members and $10 for
others. Advance reservations are required. Children under
12 are not permitted. It is a rigorous hike and
participants are expected to be able to handle it.
The
area around Stebbins Gulch was first settled in 1813.
Hosea Stebbins farmed the land and raised a family of nine
children.
The
arboretum acquired Stebbins Gulch in 1957 when S.
Livingston Mather donated 300 acres to Holden. Another 125
acres was later acquired.
Stebbins
Gulch is one of Holden’s two National Natural Landmarks.
The other is Bole Woods, a 70-acre tract of big trees.
One
of its most popular natural areas is Little Mountain, a
one-time fashionable vacation spot with hotels in the 19th
and 20th centuries. The L-shaped hill with three knobs,
the highest at 1,266 feet, sits on the border between Lake
and Geauga counties and includes cliffs and crevasses of
Sharon conglomerate.
A
new attraction at Holden Arboretum this year is Buckeye
Bud’s Adventure Woods for youngsters.
The
playground is geared for youngsters 3 to 10 years old.
There is a mini-zipline, a woodland obstacle course, an
oversized loom, bird-feeding stations, an outdoor theater,
a log cabin and an observation tower for nature watching.
It will be open through mid-October.
The
arboretum covers more than 3,600 acres and has more than
120,000 plants. It was established in 1931 with 100 acres.
Today the arboretum with 20 miles of trails and walkways
gets about 85,000 visitors a year. It is known for its
collections of woody and herbaceous plants.
It
is hosting an outdoor traveling exhibit through Oct. 28,
"Vanishing Acts: Trees Under Threat."
Hours
are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is
$6 for adults, $3 for children 6 through 15.
Holden
Arboretum is east of Cleveland off Interstate 90. Exit at
state Route 306 (Mentor-Kirtland exit). Head south on
state Route 306 to the bottom of the hill and
Kirtland-Chardon Road. Turn left and head south for 3.6
miles to Sperry Road. Turn left and go 1.4 miles to the
visitor center.
For
Holden Arboretum information, call 440-946-4400 or see www.holdenarb.org.
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