by Greg Cznadel

   Friends of Snake Hill braved Cleveland’s cold on December 19^th to gather at its trailhead in Old Brooklyn at 3800 Muriel Avenue in the Edgewood Neighborhood for a planned meeting with a representative of the Cleveland Metroparks. The trailhead is just northwest of the intersection of Memphis and Pearl. The temperature at the time of the meeting was 21°F, with wind gusts up to 32mph.

   Eric Greifenstein, leader of Friends of Snake Hill, waited by a pickup truck talking through an open window to Brenda and Larry Theurer, Snake Hill enthusiasts. He explained that the groups would be meeting with Kelly Coffman, a park planner for Cleveland Metroparks.  One-by-one, others came up. Eric Greifenstein stated, “Where’s Kelly Coffman? She should be here.”

   Then came a woman bundled for the weather with clip board in hand. That had to be her. Eric Greifenstein suggested we take a walk down the trail. Kelly Coffman, with a smile on her face, apologized. She then stated she would prefer to conduct business at the top of the trailhead. She pointed to her tennis shoes, which of course were not conducive to walking in the snow.

   Ward 11 Cleveland City Councilperson Nikki Hudson joined the group. Eric Greifenstein spoke of Councilperson Hudson’s familiarity with the trail, “She has hiked the trail a handful of times since beginning her run for City Council.  She first walked the Snake Hill Trail on August 25^th, 2025, when my wife, Lorelei, and I introduced her to it by hiking it head to tail.”

   Councilperson Hudson “found that the efforts by the Friends of Snake Hill to advocate for a plan for long term care of the trail, met three of her primary areas of interest: history, connection to green space, and grass roots organizing.” (Plain Press, November 2025).

   Kelly Coffman passed out a map of the trail. She explained what role the MetroParks would have in revamping trail, who owns what sections of the land, and what their plans for the area would be. Possibly a concrete trailhead along Muriel could be used for parking.

   Coffman said, “The trail is approximately 2000 feet long, so a little under a half mile for purposes of a ballpark estimate…the grading, drainage, and paving could cost between $500,000 – $1M if it was engineered and built by a contractor.”

   It was suggested that only the top be paved, the trail going down be stone, gravel, or pebbles for the purpose of remaining safely walkable during rain or snow. West Creek’s trails going from parking lots to nature center, pavilion, and around Bluebird point are paved and flat. All the connecting trails that lead to hills, remain natural or regraded with stone. This helps to prevent slipping into nearby ravines.

   Eric Greifenstein suggested fencing might be nice in areas to prevent people from walking off the trail. He noted that there are flora and fauna throughout the trail. He was especially concerned about a fox den near the bottom of the ravine not being disturbed. He said deer routinely cross the path.  As he spoke a deer was seen crossing the path near the top of the trail.

   That day Chris Feighan posted a video on Friends of Snake Hill’s Facebook page of “…a pair of Great Horned Owls, engaged in courtship that was spotted on December 7, 2025, at dusk, in the Eastern Hollow of the Snake Hill Unit!”  Who would have known.

   Alex Manuk and Eric Greifenstein of the Friends of Snake Hill said they hope that the Cleveland Metroparks will take over maintenance of the trail and make it part of their trail system connecting the Edgewood Neighborhood to Brookside Park.