Read an Excerpt
Downtown Cleveland Highlights
- Distance & Configuration: 3.5-mile loop
- Difficulty: Easy
- Scenery: Landmark buildings (both old and new), our Great Lake, and public art
- Exposure: Mostly exposed
- Traffic: Heavy
- Trail Surface: Asphalt
- Hiking Time: 1.5+ hours
- Driving Distance: 9 miles from I-77/I-480 exchange
- Access: 24/7; most shops and all roads and parkways open daily
- Wheelchair Traversable: Overlook to West Side Market fully; Columbus Road Bridge partially
- Maps: USGS Cleveland North and Cleveland South; street maps posted at Regional Transit Authority stop
- Facilities: Public restrooms and water at Tower City and Galleria (East Ninth Street and Lakeside Avenue)
- Contact: Terminal Tower/Tower City guest services, 216-306-0633; Erie Street Cemetery, 216-348-7217. See “Nearby Activities” on page 48 for additional contact information.
In Brief
Here’s a hike that’s uniquely Cleveland—and it starts at a historical landmark turned shopping mall. Whether you have out-of-town guests who want to see the north coast or you haven’t been downtown for a while, this mini-tour will put you in a Cleveland state of mind, with stops at stately Public Square, the anything-but-square Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Steamship William G. Mather, USS COD, the home fields of the Browns and the Guardians, and more.
Description
From Tower City’s lower lot, go inside Tower City Center, up the escalator, and wander north through the shopping center’s bright interior. When the Van Sweringen brothers planned the 52-story tower in the 1920s, they worked to sway both public opinion and political decisions to have it constructed to their desired specifications. Built to be the main tower in the Cleveland Union (railroad) Terminal, it was the tallest building outside of New York City from its opening in 1930 until 1967. Today, the tower cum mall-and-office space has far outlived the railroad line for which it was planned (though the Rapid Transit station is still active), yet the building remains a signature flourish on Cleveland’s skyline. For the past decade or so, like so many malls, it has struggled to keep tenants and to attract shoppers. What Tower City has that most malls don’t, however, is the City of Cleveland—a city that will likely find a new way to use the fabulous building. Stay tuned.
As you exit Tower City Center onto Euclid Avenue, you’ll find yourself on Public Square. The Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, built in 1894, sits to your right, on the eastern side of Ontario Street. The monument to the almost 10,000 Cleveland-area soldiers who served in the Civil War is as impressive inside as it is from the outside. Go in to learn from the displays and knowledgeable docents.
Continue north across Public Square to the Old Stone Church. Established here on the corner of Ontario Street and Rockwell Avenue in 1834, the church has been rebuilt a couple of times since. The building you see today dates to 1855. If your timing is good (don’t interrupt a wedding!), you may be able to go in to appreciate the church’s ornate interior. From the church, follow Ontario north, across St. Clair Avenue, continuing to Lakeside and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. As you approach, crane your neck to take in six stately sculptures atop the building’s facade. Various artists created the marble figures in 1911; each statue honors an individual for their contributions to English law. Sculpted by Herbert Adams, Simon de Montfort (1208–1265), for example, created a parliament with two houses, which became the precursor of the House of Commons. Below, bronze busts of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, both by Karl Bitters, grace opposite sides of the main entrance steps.
With a nod to Misters Hamilton and Jefferson, turn left in front of the courthouse and follow Lakeside Avenue southwest about a block; then turn right onto West Third Street. From the top of the hill, you’ll catch a glimpse of Lake Erie. Follow West Third downhill, passing the Port of Cleveland on your left, and wind around the 31-acre site of Cleveland Browns Stadium. This may be a good place to get some landscaping ideas: The groundskeepers focus on the field (which is heated to extend the growing season of the grass), so the rest of the area features hardy, attractive, low-maintenance plants.
Follow West Third east as it bends right, heading south onto Erieside Avenue—the 171-foot-tall stadium now stands to your right. Several sculptures, including one honoring Cleveland’s firefighters and first responders, dot this part of the walk. Turn left onto North Marginal Road, walking east past the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Walk down to Voinivich Park, behind the science center, to marvel at the 618-foot-long William G. Mather steamship, a piece of history in striking visual contrast to the futuristic Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, designed by architect I. M. Pei. One of the six script Cleveland signs is neatly positioned with the skyline as backdrop. Give in and take a picture; everyone does. Here you’ll also notice signs advertising tours on the Goodtime III. When in Cleveland, visiting the Mather, Goodtime, and nearby USS COD submarine offer a comprehensive education in the city’s unbreakable connection to the Great Lakes. Tours on any of the three are enjoyable, but the hands-down best choice for hikers is a walk-and-crawl-through tour of the USS COD. (See “Nearby Activities” on page 48.)
Continue your walk from here by turning right, going south on East Ninth Street. You’ll cross over busy OH 2, also known as the Shoreway, and begin to head uphill. Soon you’ll see the always-good-for-a-conversation-starter Free Stamp sculpture at Willard Park, on the north side of Lakeside Avenue. And just south of Lakeside, you’ll find the Galleria. The beautiful mall, modeled to honor Cleveland’s history of interior arcades, has also struggled to maintain occupants, but the food court inside the Galleria remains popular with downtown workers and visitors.
Ahead and on your left, at the corner of East Ninth and Superior Avenue, is the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist. Originally constructed from 1848 to 1852, the current church is part of a complete rebuilding that took place from 1946 to 1948.
From the church, continue south about 0.2 mile to the eastern corner of East Ninth and Chester to find downtown Cleveland’s only grocery store. In 2015, Heinen’s opened inside the Cleveland Trust Building after restoring many of the historic features, including the oft-photographed rotunda, where shoppers can sit and enjoy wine, ice cream, and other forms of sustenance. Back outside on East Ninth, continue north across Euclid and Prospect Avenues to reach Bolivar Road. Progressive Field (known for years as Jacobs Field), home of the Cleveland Guardians, is on your right. Take a few minutes here, between Bolivar and Eagle, to see some of the interesting sculptures designed for the new ballpark in 1994. Several of the sculptures function as fashionable benches: Who’s on First, Meet Me Here, and the abstract Sports Stacks. (Between you and me, I see a baseball bat in there, but you’ll see what you want to see.) Once you’ve peered inside the gates of Progressive Field, return to East Ninth and turn right, heading south again.
On the eastern side of East Ninth (on your left) is old Erie Street Cemetery. Created in 1826, when Erie Street was constructed, it was the city’s first official cemetery. Many bodies buried at church cemeteries were relocated here when the cemetery opened. And here lies Chief Thunderwater, who advocated on behalf of humane treatment of Indigenous peoples and traditional culture. He participated in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, later ran several businesses, and was a visible public figure until his death in 1950. Today, Thunderwater shares the grounds with his hero, Joc-O-Sot, a chief who fought in the Black Hawk War, as well as myriad early settlers and other folks notable in the city’s history.
If you leave the cemetery and take East Ninth south to Carnegie, you’ll face the oft-photographed entrance to Hope Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1932 as the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge. Impressive stone carvings on each entrance represent the progression of transportation. The figures hold various icons: a covered wagon, stagecoach, car, and several trucks. Water transportation isn’t represented by the figures, but the bridge itself reminds us—it was built 93 feet above water level to allow for shipping clearance. It may take some fans a few seasons to get used to the new name, but history suggests it’s a good fit.
Reverse your steps and head north again on East Ninth (or meander through the Sports Stacks, taking Huron or Prospect west to East Fourth Street) to reach yet another gorgeous mall: the 5th Street Arcades. More than a century old, the arcades are more fully occupied and see more foot traffic than the Galleria and Tower City, perhaps due to location, perhaps because the Arcades focuses on attracting small, locally owned retail businesses. Go in and marvel at the architecture, and you might leave with a handcrafted dog collar or artisan cupcake. The Arcades location on the north side of the street is largely occupied by a Hyatt Hotel, and its golden stairway makes it a popular spot for weddings.
From the Arcades, head west on Euclid to return to Public Square and back into Tower City to your starting point.
Nearby Activities
It’s OK to act like a tourist here, even if Cleveland is your hometown. The Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument is open daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Visit soldiersandsailors.com for more information. The USS COD, is open May–September, but a tour of the World War II submarine is only for the agile. Visitors enter and exit through original hatches and climb ladders over equipment inside. For information, call 216-566-8770 or visit usscod.org. Less constraining is the Steamship William G. Mather, the 1925 flagship of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, which is now operated as a floating maritime museum by the Great Lakes Science Center; call 216-694-2000 or visit greatscience.com for information. You can cruise the Cuyahoga River aboard the Goodtime III, enjoying fabulous views of Cleveland’s industrial flats and the area’s many different bridges. So (ahem) for a Goodtime, call 216-861-5110 or visit goodtimeiii.com. For a hike offering a different view of the skyline, visit Edgewater Park, part of the expanding Lakefront Reservation (see page 53).
This walk abuts Cleveland’s celebrated theater district and historic Gateway neighborhood. Tours of Cleveland LLC offers walking tours of the city year-round, including Playhouse Square and more. Visit toursofcleveland.com for more information.
GPS Trailhead Coordinates
N41° 29.811' W81° 41.635'
From I-77 N, take Exit 163 (E Ninth Street). From East Ninth Street, merge onto East 14th Street; in 0.2 mile turn right onto US 422/Orange Avenue and follow signs to Public Square/Stadium. In 0.7 mile turn left onto West Huron Road. In 0.3 mile turn right onto West Sixth Street to park at the Tower City Center parking garage.
