Pleasant Walks and Drives About Ann Arbor
Cascade Glen, Postcard collection
Drive "B" or Cascade Glen Drive
Start at Mr. Beal's printing office on North Main street and go north on Main street, or the Whitmore Lake road, until you reach the gate on the left hand side of the road, a few rods south of the Michigan Central railroad track. The people who own this property are very obliging, and will allow any one to enter this gate and pass over this road, if they will only be sure to close the gate after them. After yuo have passed through the gate, you pass by the pulp mill and go around on the south bank of the Huron river upon the old Michigan Central railroad track. This road passes immediately in front of the beautiful glen known as Cascade Glen which will repay a visit by the lover of the beautiful scenery. The Cascade Glen is about a quarter of a mile from the pulp mill, and you will know the entrance to it by the gate with a stile on the east of it. Passing over the stile you can advance up the Glen a little to the left of the stile and you will come to the Cascade, two samall streams trickle down the hill and form one small brook at the base. It is very steep here and very pretty indeed with the clear brook running down the steep bank. If one is an expert climber they can cross the brook, climb between the two Cascades over the roots of the trees and reach the top of the hill, somewhere near two hundred feetabove the river. If one does not care to take the severe climb and tramp through the woods and bushes, you can go up on the west side of the Glen by the road way up to the top of the hill and get a view of as fine country scenery as there is in this country or any other. The Huron winds its way at the foot of the hill and the banks opposite are covered with trees and farm houses and you can see several miles up and down the riverr with its varying scenery of river and woods and fields and beautiful farms. I ahve frequently found picnic parties of a dozen or more on the top of these hills, and they have invariably said that they had never seen a more beautiful scene than this. It would well repay any one who is able to make the climb, and if you go up the regular road on the west side of the Glen, it is not so difficult to reach the top of the hill. After you have enjoyed the view from this hill, you can return down the road through the Glen to your carriage, and proceed on up the river until you come to the gate near the water works pumping station. Pass through the gate here and be very sure to close it after you, because the privilege of passing through this depends largely upon the evidence you exhibit of your appreciation of the privelege by closing it. After you have passed through the gate, keep on to the left up over the hill, then down into a deep ravine, then up another hill along a bush-lined road for about half a mile, when you come to the regular highway coming from Ann Arbor to Foster's. When you reach the main road, turn to the left and go about a half a mile or more until you come to the first road turning square to the left from Foster's road; turn down this road to the left and you will soon be near the reservoir of the water works; pass on through the woods until you come to the high ground northwest of the city and you will have nearly a full view of the entire city, including the Huron valley and the Michigan Central depot. It would pay you to stop on the top of this hill and enjoy the scenery. You can then pass on toward the city of Ann Arbor, keeping right down the Chubb road past the Catholic cemetery until you get just past Daniel Hiscock's peach orchard. Stop at this point, for it is one of the finest views of the city and the Huron valley that there is about Ann Arbor. The hill coming down the Chubb road to the Ann Arbor railroad is quite steep, but a careful driver will have no difficulty in driving down the hill. You can pass along the Ann Arbor railroad until you come to Charles Street, then cross the railroad and it is but a short distance to Main Street, then back by Main Street to the place of starting at Mr. Beal's printing office. This drive is between three and four miles. One can reverse this drive and start at the intersection of Charles Street and North Main Street, just south of the old Hiscock homestead near the flour mill, and go up the steep hill on the Chubb road past the Catholic cemetery. Stop on the top of this hill near this cemetery and you will have a very fine view of almost the entire city of Ann Arbor and the Huron valley. For the remainder of the way you can reverse the drive given above.