Cuyahoga Valley: Tinkers Creek

+ Tinkers Creek

Tinkers Creek is named after Joseph Tinker, the principal boatman for Moses Cleveland's survey crew, who died in a boating accident on a return trip to New England. The steepness and rockiness of the Tinkers Creek's gorge, now part of the Metroparks' Bedford Reservation, made much of the land along the creek bed inaccessible for homes and farming, securing its preservation as a natural area. In 1968, the U.S. Park Service recognized these gorges as part of its Registered National Natural Landmarks.

		Together with the steep slopes of the Cuyahoga Valley, waterways are the Valley's defining features. The Cuyahoga River and its many tributaries give structure not just to the natural systems and ecology of the Valley, but also provide the underlying logic which shaped development patterns, including where we live, work, recreate and travel to and through the Valley. The health of the entire system of waterways determines whether the Valley is a place of prosperity and genuine community. The waterways are the foundation for the Valley's renewal.