We arrived into the park around 11a and went to the visitor center to get the plan for the day and purchase our traditional hiking stick medallions. We then began our day at Brandywine Falls (video). Truly impressive for Ohio to have such a beautiful and massive waterfall. We took several pictures and then walked on the trail to the gorge below. We took pics of Cameron doing handstands, Tess doing cartwheels, and everyone just having a nice hike. It was about a 2 mile round trip hike, but the terrain was mostly level and not very difficult at all. NOTHING like the challenge at Shenandoah National Park last month.

When we got to the bottom near the water, the girls saw a really cool tree stump spread across the water so all the kids decided to climb across to later named “Tessa’s Island”. I then took off my shoes/socks and joined them on a walk upstream towards the base of the waterfall while mom stayed behind. We could have hung out in that water all day. We then came back to the van and had some lunch before heading over to The Ledges.

The Ledges are rock formations that reminded us of the “slot canyons” in Utah. We all had fun exploring the caves/crevaces, and climbing on the rocks. Although the weather had been hot and humid all week, it was perfect weather to visit the park today.

After The Ledges, we headed over to the Beaver Dam area. It reminded us of The Everglades in south Florida. We walked around the boardwalk path a bit and Cameron tried to show the kids how to stand on their hands. Then it started to rain so we headed back to the van. On the way home, we stopped at Mod Pizza (like Blaze) at Polaris and then got home around 8:30p. A really fun day trip.

Now we are well over 40 National Parks & Sites visited.