The Observation Deck

Now that Sharkey's Hill is closed.

http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2/2/yo ... -yesterday

What are the best sledding hills areas around?

just curious.


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I have never been on a sled, but I have seen people at the park where Tiedeman and Memphis meet. Right by Kiddie Park.

Does the slope of the economy count?

Corey
No credentials what-so-ever

when i was a kid we would sled down the hill across the street from Lakewood Screw Factory. The difficult part was not hitting a parked car at the other side of the street at the bottom of the hill. There was a grocery store near there. I would buy a donut afterwards if I had 30 cents.

I hiked through Edgewater park a few times this summer. there were hills there. They might be too covered with tall grass and brush.

We just got home from sledding down in the valley. There is a hill in the Big Met gold course. It seems to be quite popular. It's right off the road after you pass the clubhouse. It is a great hill for the whole family.

We frequent the Bay Hill, located at the corner of Dover Ctr. and Wolf Rd. in Cahoon Park. It's a BIG HILL. It is lighted and used by lots and lots of older kids, teens and adults. Prepare to loose a sled or two! Try it at night, that's when it is the best.

For the munchkins in your family, try Linden Park in Rocky River, located off Linden Rd. across from Lutheran West. This is where we take our younger kids. Just the right size for a big thrill for them and they can still walk back up to the top to do it again!

Or give the hill at the Westlake Rec. Center. It is another small hill that kids under 10 will enjoy. It can get crowded at times though.

Edgewater has great hills. My teens(as do lots and lots of others from the Cleveland/Lakewood Area) go to Edgewater Park to coast those hills. They are big, fast, bumpy and one heck of a work out getting back to the top to do it again.

I just haven't been able to go back there for two years. One of their friends shattered her ankle and fractured her femur after her foot got stuck in a rut as she went down the hill. Actually, I haven't gotten on a sled since....it was a horrendous injury to say the least. But thanks to the wonderful Cleveland EMS and surgeons and doctors at Lakewood Hospital she has made a full recovery.

Edgewater park if you are walking. Cuyahoga Valley National Park if you have a ride.

Kaufman is a nice place that is close and good for little kids under 7 years old. Perfect for 2, 3, 4 year olds. And the best part, it's in Lakewood. It may look small, but my kids love it and so do others we've seen there.

We also heard of two other place that we have not checked out yet. Down the valley as you enter the boat dock area, right at the bottom of the hill going into the valley at Detroit road. We drove by and it looks good for little kids. The other place is in Bay Village, right across the street from the Huntington Beach pavilion (south side of Lake). This one looks steeper and probably for older kids.

Danielle Masters wrote:We just got home from sledding down in the valley. There is a hill in the Big Met gold course. It seems to be quite popular. It's right off the road after you pass the clubhouse. It is a great hill for the whole family.

This sounds like the hill I used to go to when I was a kid. It is right at the curve of the road past Big Met clubhouse entrance. Always was busy back then and a nice size hill as well.

On Sunday, we ventured first to the park at Memphis and Tiedeman. It was not only so crowded that people were three and four deep the whole length of the hill, some idiot had decided to bring his snowmobile into the sledding area for a joyride. We immediately turned around, over the protesting of eager kids and drove out to the Metroparks and found the Big Met hill. A very nice, long hill, not too crowded and a lovely setting made for a very enjoyable day. Park either at the clubhouse or if you're lucky you can find a spot at the Big Met Grill lot which is just a little closer. It's still not a very far walk from the clubhouse lot, though. Just follow the path straight past the clubhouse.

Kind of the difference between going to Edgewater and Huntington Beach, ya know?

There also seems to be another hill at the Mastick Hills golf course a little further down the road.

The main reason we like the Big Met hill is because it is secluded it seems to attract families and we have never seen it that crowded. I have heard the memphis hill is super crowded and I hate to worry about sledding over kids. Is the hill in Bay big? I am wondering if it might be a nice treat for my older boys.

The Bay hill is big and fast. It is awesome! Your older kids will love it! Give it a try. It's lighted too.

Thanks Stephanie, I'll send my husband out with the older ones there and I'll take the little ones to our regular spot.

In ancient days, before everyone became afraid of being sued, they used to close the street behind Fairview Hospital running down to little met, and it was a very popular destination because as you became more of a daredevil, you could start farther up the road, and really fly if you could get around the curves.

Of course, that was when sleds had runners and you could steer them; it wouldn't work with the oversized bedpans they sell as sleds today.

My sons enjoyed Edgewater, but they started by the edge of the shoreway, flew across a minor stone wall across the hill, out onto the beach and out onto the ice. I don't see many using that route now, probably because they lack steerable sleds, and brakes for when the ice gets unpassable. Virginia Kendall in the CVNP was a special treat, worth a drive. They put straw bales at the end of the major hill, and one of my sons drove between two of the straw bales and down a path in the woods; the park rangers were after him like he had robbed a bank, but he was unhurt because he had a very steerable sled; the next time we went back, they had added a lot more straw bales.

Of course, that was when sleds had runners and you could steer them

That you could steer a Radio Flyer runner sled was one of the cruelest hoaxes ever perpetrated on our generation.