Description: Wouldn't it be cool to hike around on limestone that was formed at least 18,000 years before you existed? I think so—and that's one reason Kelleys Island State Park is one of my favorite places to visit. Of course, that's not the only one; this is, after all, an island in Lake Erie, where the scenery is beautiful and relaxation starts the minute your foot hits the ground.
Some geologists believe the glacial grooves here, gouged out of the bedrock by a retreating glacier during the Pleistocene Ice Age, are the largest and most extensive of anywhere in the United States. Early human life included residents of at least two Indian villages; today, a huge boulder known as Inscription Rock contains petroglyphs thought to have been carved by the villagers to describe major events.
Around the mid-1800s, members of the Kelley family from Cleveland began buying land on what was then known as Cunningham Island. Over time, the island adopted the Kelley name, and descendants of the family reportedly are among the nearly 400 residents who live here today.
Getting to Kelleys Island requires a ferryboat, private boat, or airplane. My husband and I do it by ferry—a fun trip of 20 minutes or so for those who depart from nearby Marblehead, Ohio. Sometimes, we hop aboard the
Jet Express high-speed passenger ferry in Port Clinton for a stop at Put-in-Bay (South Bass Island) and on to
Kelleys Island.
Getting around the island, only about four square miles, is easy in a rented golf cart. Rental stations (for bicycles as well) are located near the ferry dock and at strategic places throughout the island.
At the park, there's a sandy beach for sunning and public swimming, but our passions lie elsewhere. A winery offers tastings, and the Sweet Valley Trading Post & Butterfly Kingdom includes a gift shop as well as butterfly hatchery. The small downtown offers a variety of restaurants, some with outdoor patios right on the lake, as well as gift shops. Six miles of walking trails, most close to the 800-acre state park, bring visitors up close and personal to local flora and fauna and yes, those glacial grooves.
Visitors can walk along the perimeter of what is still an archeological study site and get great views of the 400-foot wide gash made by the glacier's retreat. Walkways and overlooks are fenced for safety, but there's an area where visitors can try their luck at finding marine fossils, some of them as old as 400 million years.
Here's another interesting tidbit: Kelleys Island plays a major role in the book
Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegardner. The title, of course, refers to the Cuyahoga River, which at one time was so polluted that a part of it actually caught on fire. But the two main characters first met on the island when they were teenagers.
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