Cuyahoga Falls 'Lost' Cave

How many of you grew up exploring the Gorge? I did and completely without parental permission, much to my chagrin as an adult. I grew up on Front Street near the American Legion so the gorge and the river were quite the enticement for a young explorer like me. It wasn't until I was a young adult that I became interested in the history, although I recall seeing past remnants off the beaten path - signs, stairs, and the odd trail, and wondering what it was from. Today I know it stemmed from the High Bridge Glens Park.

As I rummage through our history records and old accounts by previous local historians I've discovered many references to explorations of the gorge dating back to our Native American times. There is one place in particular that has been referenced several times - a 'lost' cave. Just east of the Mary Campbell Cave (once called Old Maid's Kitchen) is a genuine cave and not an alcove like our Mary Campbell "Cave".

General Lucius Bierce wrote a book about Summit County in 1854. Under the Cuyahoga Falls section he wrote:

"On the north bank of the Cuyahoga, below the village, is a remarkable cavern. I discovered it in 1826 when the country around there was wilderness. It is on the very brink of the chasm cut by the river, and the small opening, just large enough to admit a person's body, was on a level with the ground. A few leaves or a rotten log will easily conceal it. In company with Charles B. Thompson, Orville B. Skinner and Jabez Gilbert, I entered it, and found it about ten feet in height, and divided into two rooms with a small passage between, barely sufficient for a person to pass. I was let down by my companions. It being totally dark in the cavern, I could make but a few examinations, and, fearing some chasm at the bottom, I did not let my curiosity carry me far. From the length of the time intervening, and the change of appearance I cannot now find it, but some future explorer will again bring it to light."

Decades later, John Botzum came across the cavern stories and decided it must be the blocked off cave just a few hundred feet east of what was then called the Old Maid's Kitchen. Another Cuyahoga Falls resident, Alfred Roethig, mentioned in 1929 that he had been in the cave as a boy. His description matched General Bierce's exactly. Ross Durst, one of our local historians of the 20th Century, expressed interest in the cavern and mentioned this:

"It is my hope that some experienced "spelunker" might make a thorough investigation and settle the matter for all time. If it could be found, improved, and lighted, it would be a decided asset to the community as well as to the Metropolitan Park, who now owns the land."

To add the mysteriousness of the cave, it has been mentioned a few times that our famous local counterfeiter Jim Brown used the cave as a hideout when being chased.

Have any of you explored our gorge? Did you find anything interesting.....or perhaps a cavern?