Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
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117 parks in 7 regions

Old Maid's Kitchen (Mary Campbell Cave)

Cuyahoga Falls · Summit County
Rock shelter (sandstone)

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Approximate location, use the address
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A rock shelter in Gorge Metro Park, reached by a half-mile walk on the Gorge Trail, long tied to the story of Mary Campbell, a legend the park now questions.

Type
A rock shelter: about 130 feet wide and up to 50 feet deep in places, with a sandstone roof and a shale wall, formed when water eroded the shale
Trail
About a half mile from the parking lot on the Gorge Trail, described as easy
Name
Old Maid's Kitchen is the modern name; it was renamed Mary Campbell Cave around 1934 and Summit Metro Parks restored the older name
Setting
On the north wall of the Cuyahoga River gorge
Alert
Portions of Gorge Metro Park are closed for the removal of the Gorge Dam; check current alerts before you go
Season
Open during park hours all year, subject to the alert

The story

Old Maid's Kitchen is one of many rock shelters named in pioneer days for an old maid's kitchen, meaning small and empty. Around 1934 it was renamed Mary Campbell Cave, after a girl who was abducted on May 21, 1758 by the Lenape (Delaware) from her home near Penn's Creek in western Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. She was about ten. Captives were often taken to replace people killed in the conflicts over frontier land, and she is thought to have spent about six years with the Lenape, at first near the falls of the Cuyahoga and later farther east, possibly in the household of the chief Netawatwees. She was released in November 1764 at the end of Pontiac's War, when Colonel Henry Bouquet's army forced the Lenape to give up their captives; she was about 16, and family tradition says she was unhappy about being separated from them. About half of the captives handed over to Bouquet tried to return to their Native families.

A plaque placed here in 1934 by a children's patriotic society says she and the Indian women lived in the cave. In 2019 Summit Metro Parks archaeologists dug there, after finding that a fill of clay and gravel had been laid in the floor in 1931 to make it easier to walk in. They recovered 107 artifacts, all from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and found no Native American artifacts and none from Campbell's time, no fire pits and no sign that the shelter was ever lived in: it is naturally wet and sloped and would have been undesirable for occupation. The excavation confirmed the shelter's importance as a recreation site from the late 19th century to today, and it was recommended as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Her captivity is real history; the belief that she was kept in this shelter is not supported.

The map pin is approximate. Because of the dam-removal construction, do not assume the trail is open. The 1934 plaque gives the year of Campbell's capture as 1759; other sources give 1758.

Stay on the marked trails and official tours. Caves are fragile and can be dangerous, and entering any cave or crevice that is closed, unmarked or not open to the public is unsafe and unauthorized.

Visiting

Status
Open; check current alerts
Season and hours
Open during park hours. Portions of Gorge Metro Park are closed for dam-removal construction, so check Summit Metro Parks' alerts before you go.
Cost
Free.
Phone
330-867-5511
Please note
Stay on the marked trail and away from the drop-off to the river.
Address
Gorge Metro Park, 1160 Front St, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
More information →DirectionsShow on the map

The pin on the map is approximate; use the address or the operator's directions.

Seasons, tours and access can change. Confirm with the operator or park before a long drive; where a closure alert applies, check current conditions.

Parks nearby

Cuyahoga Valley National Park
About 8 miles · The national park runs along the towpath nearby.
Open
Brecksville Reservation
About 15 miles · Backcountry camping on the Buckeye Trail.
Open

Road trips

Ohio & Erie Canalway Scenic Byway
A road trip that passes near this stop
Open

Buckeye Trail

Akron Section
Near the Buckeye Trail
Open

Related

Hale Farm & Village
A living-history farm in the Cuyahoga Valley
Open
Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens
A 65-room Tudor Revival mansion built by a Goodyear co-founder
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.