Kelleys Island & Catawba State Park

Our annual trip to the area usually involves a trip on the Jet Express to Put in Bay. We have a system for our Put in Bay trips since we've taken them almost every year of E's life. Most of the adventure occurs driving the golf cart around. It is the only time the boys ever ride a golf cart and therefore it makes it the best thing in the world. Plus, it's usually hot so it provides a nice breeze as we adventure around the islands. None of us, my parents included, have ever been to Kelleys Island and so we decided this year to take a visit and see what it has to offer for a family vacation. 

The website is easy to navigate and tells you just about any information you would need to know when visiting the island. We were excited to get ice cream, see different state park sites to visit, and play putt putt to start off our adventure. 

It wouldn't be an adventure without first having to GET to the island. The first part of our trek was riding the boat at Kelleys Island Ferry Boat Line. I wouldn't dawdle either once boarding. We were the last to board that morning and before we made it up the stairs to the benches the ferry started off into Lake Erie. It was a ferry that both cars and people are allowed to board so the boys enjoyed looking at the different cars, boats in the water, and exploring the top deck of the boat. 

Once we arrived on Kelley's Island we decided to walk the short distance to Inscription Rock and then rent a golf cart from the downtown area for a cheaper price. Due to the pandemic, there were quite a few shops not opened which was not advertised when we researched. Due to this, we made a few last minute decisions on account of the shops or activities no longer existing or were closing due to lack of workers.

 

Kelley's Island website, linked above gives a brief description of Inscription Rock, "American Indian symbols carved in rock on the south shore of Kelleys Island. Rediscovered partly buried in the shoreline in 1833, the rock is now entirely exposed and covered by a roof and viewing platform. 

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Inscription Rock Petroglyphs are believed to have been created sometime between A.D. 1200 and 1600. Inscription Rock Petroglyphs are accessible daily in season, weather-permitting."

We were able to see some of the symbols they referred to, but after a good rain it may be easier to see them. (Not that most people wish for rain on vacation!)

Once we rented our golf cart the first stop on our list was to visit the State Park camping office for our passport stamp, map, and any suggestions they had for new visitors. I research and look things up, but the people who work or live in the area will always have recommendations that aren't on google!

We started at Glacial Grooves which I think is so interesting! In short, glacial grooves occured when massive glaciers combined with the limestone land of Kelleys Island. A more accurate description from the website says, "The glacial grooves are 400 feet long, 35 feet wide, and up to 15 feet deep. They were created by the slow movement of the massive glacier that created the Great Lakes and Lake Erie Islands. 

When glaciers move across the earth, they pick up rocks, soil, and other debris, and drag them along. As the ice crept over the soft limestone bedrock of Kelleys Island, these harder bits of rock gouged the grooves that we see today."

As I said, one of our favorite activities to when we visit the islands is the golf cart. The keys were not in the golf cart during this picture as they were pretending to drive and run into us shouting, "get out of the way!"

Kelleys Island, in addition to everything that I have listed so far, also has a quarry. The quarry was removing the limestone which was combined with the glacial grooves for business until eventually they protected the last large sections of the glacial grooves for preservation. 

The rocks along the fencing are perfect for climbing and jumping.

The trails that we checked out, we were guessing, but this section looked like the transportation part of the quarry. Where they would love carts up with the minerals and rocks and dump them into trucks before driving out. We weren't able to find any information on it, but that was our guess.

 

There was a section of beach that was pretty private close to this trail, but you had to rock climb down and up a 6-8 foot section to get to it, which of course was a challenge issued to the boys!

As we drove along the island we came to a dead end.

Later, on our weekend adventure, we drove over to visit Catawba State Park and without a boat or fishing poles there wasn't much for us to do. Catawba State Park does not have any hiking trails, but focused mainly on boating and fishing. It was a beautiful beach! We were able to take a picture by the secondary marker.

This is a family trip favorite, we will be back again, but most likely we will boat over to see Put in Bay and maybe even tent camp on one of the more northern islands for a new experience!

#guentheradventures decades in the making.