Enjoying Brandywine Falls

By Jon | on August 03, 2023

Brandywine Falls Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

SAGAMORE HILLS — Brandywine Falls is a 60-foot waterfall, but not the only attraction in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. A deep gorge, traces of human history and seasonal changes add to the experience.Carved by Brandywine Creek, the falls demonstrates classic geological features of waterfalls. A harder rock layer caps the waterfall, protecting softer layers of rock below. The top layer is Berea Sandstone. The softer layers include Bedford and Cleveland shales, soft rocks formed from mud found on the sea floor 350 to 400 million years ago. Shale is thinly chunked, giving the water a bridal veil appearance as it cascades down the falls.A boardwalk provides views of the waterfall from an upper observation area or you can walk down to the gorge. The boardwalk also lets you have a close look at Berea Sandstone. Look for the individual grains of sand that accumulated in a sea that covered this area 320 million years ago. Berea Sandstone is high quality sandstone found commonly throughout this area, both in nature and as a construction material used in buildings and canal locks.The moistness of the gorge invites eastern hemlocks, an evergreen tree, to grow along the gorge. The hemlocks contrast with the abundant red maple trees in the area, which flame with color in the fall.Brandywine Falls’ human history includes early European settlers who saw the falls not just as an object of beauty, but as a source of waterpower. In 1814, George Wallace built a sawmill at the top of the falls. Grist and woolen mills followed. The Village of Brandywine grew around the mills. Much of the village is now mostly gone, lost to the construction of nearby Interstate 271. However, the James Wallace house, built by George’s son, remains as the Inn at Brandywine Falls.To explore beyond the waterfall, take the 1.5-mile Gorge Trail, which starts near the Inn and follows the edge of the gorge and down to creek level. After crossing the creek, the Gorge Trail connects to the Stanford Trail, which leads back to the top of the falls.Brandywine Falls is a place to return to time and time again to watch the changing seasons such as for fall colors and spring vernal pools. It is also a place to watch the moods of the waterfall. With less water, the bridal-veil pattern becomes more pronounced. In winter, ice becomes the attraction. Immediately after storms, water pours over the falls, often in higher volumes than would have occurred historically because run-off from upstream paved surfaces has increased water flow.Brandywine Falls is located at 8176 Brandywine Road. Restrooms and picnic tables are available, with more details at nps.gov/cuva or by calling 440-717-3890.

Jennie Vasarhelyi is supervisory program manager for interpretation, education and visitor services for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.