Hobbies

The best hike for you is the one you want to do, and that you can do, now.

It may be different for every person, every day, depending on where you’ll be, whom you’ll be hiking with and how much time you have available.

That’s why “60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Cleveland” is useful. Hiking destinations are listed based on location, elevation, scenery, trail surface and accessibility and length. It makes fitting hiking into your schedule — and into the rest of your life — much easier.

I’m a hiking guide author, and people often ask me “What are the best hikes in Northeast Ohio?” Below is my list of five hikes that are best for various circumstances. Find one near you (or near your workplace, or by a friend’s house or a favorite restaurant) that suits you and hit the trail.

BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK — Blue Hen Falls

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

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Past the pretty and picturesque falls (and the blue blazes of the Buckeye Trail) you’ll find a steep descent to Buttermilk Falls — then a good climb back up. Total distance covered is just about 2 miles, but it will feel like a real “getaway.”

Terrain is steep, with loose sand and gravel in places. To hike here, you should be surefooted, and certain that your knees can handle the steep trail.

BEST BET FOR UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER — F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm

Summit County

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The visitor center (closed most Mondays) is as green and inviting as an indoor space can be, so if you have a day to get outside but the weather isn’t cooperating, you’ll find your outdoor fix here. Even when the park’s three hiking trails are too wet to enjoy, you might still be able to traverse the paved paths that wander through an herb garden and arboretum.

When Larry Theurer’s garden in Old Brooklyn wasn’t yielding as many vegetables as it used to, Larry and his wife Brenda recalled a PBS television special that showed an elderly Asian man hand-pollinating his pear trees in Japan. The area had lost all its honeybees from pollution.

The next day, Larry tried his hand at pollinating his own garden with a cotton-tipped swab dipped in water; the result was amazing.

“My garden exploded,” Larry says. “The big difference was in the yields. So my wife and I decided to find out more about honeybees. We checked out various beekeeper organizations in Medina County, Lorain County and a few more counties. That year, 2009, we also went to the Cuyahoga County Fair and met people from the Greater Cleveland Beekeepers Association. The association was only about six months old at the time.”

Larry and Brenda began attending beekeeper meetings at the Rocky River Nature Center. “The club was very warm and receptive,” he says. “And nobody wanted your annual dues up front until you were sure this was something you’d like to do. They genuinely wanted to see you succeed as a beekeeper.”

Larry is now president of the GCBA, one of the youngest and largest clubs in Northeast Ohio. Members meet the second Wednesday of the month with educational and networking sessions. The association holds an annual bee conference. This year’s event featured nationally known naturalist beekeeper Ross Conrad, a feature writer for Bee Culture Magazine, which is published in part by A.I. Root Company in Medina.

A POST-RETIREMENT HOBBY

Larry, 60, who retired in 2015 after 31 years with Cleveland Public Power, considers himself nearly a full-time beekeeper. Hives can require constant attention to keep up with the ever-producing honey yields, to protect hives from predators and to prevent colony collapse from pests such as varroa mites and hive beetles.