Take: Bradstreet's Landing, Rocky River, Ohio
Take: Bradstreet's Landing, Rocky River, Ohio
Embedded Files
22400 Lake Road, Rocky River, OH 44116
41.4822°N, 81.8676°W
22400 Lake Road, Rocky River, OH 44116
41.4822°N, 81.8676°W
Glassing Score: 9.3/10
Hours: All Rocky River City Parks open at dawn and close at dusk.
Swimming: Not permitted.
Public Restroom: Porta-potties have been available, but were removed recently. It's not clear if they will be returned. Seasonally, a plumbed restroom is available.
Stairs: There are no stairs required to access the beach, but there is a significant decline down to the water's edge with soft sand. The beach to the west of the pier has a gentle slope, but not much glass. There is a section of the beach that is only accessible by crossing a tributary that runs into the lake, or by going down a series of concrete blocks that are large and decorative in nature (i.e. not . The park itself, including the pier, is considered accessible.
Other Amenities: 600-foot, lighted pier that rises 20 feet above the lake surface. Offers ideal water-bird-watching and fishing space. There is also a kayak launch on the west side of the pier.
I first heard about Bradstreet's Landing as a glassing spot when I first googled where to search for beach glass in Northeast Ohio.
I will eventually write the story of how I got started and became obsessed with beach combing, but long story short, my daughter made me do it. Since I don't like to try something new without doing the research, I immediately jumped on the interwebs to see what I could learn to make our first trip successful.
I came upon a blog entry by the Dainty Squid, where she revealed her favorite three beaches for beachcombing in Cleveland, and attempted to visit all three. Bradstreet's Landing was under construction, so for about a year I wasn't able to visit.
(If you are new to glassing, check out Dainty Squid's 7 tips for finding beach glass.) I should also note that Kaylah, the author, looks like the coolest person ever. She has genuine influencer vibes and is clearly an incredible photographer.
This Thanksgiving, we had a COVID case in the family and our larger gathering was cancelled, so the kids and I went up to visit the Columbia Rd beach where there is a waterfall that feeds into the lake (super cool - will link a post about that experience here some other time). As we were driving east to Rocky River beach park, I saw that Bradstreet's Landing including the pier was finally open.
We stopped in and spent about an hour before dusk poking around the beach (the photo of my daughter in her alpaca sweater was from that visit). It was instantly a revelation. There were lots of people there on Thanksgiving as the weather was agreeably mild, but there was still a lot of glass available.
I didn't even venture to the side west of the tributary that day, and I still found a large quantity of glass.
In writing this piece, I learned that the beach is named after "Bradstreet's Disaster." During Cleveland's pre-settlement days, a British Colonel named John (apparently known as the renowned hero of Fort Frotenac) was moving 2,300 troops, provincials and Indigenous Americans from fort Niagara to fort Detroit.
As his party of 60 boats and 9 canoes came near the swale, a surprise wave caught them and filled their boats with water. More than 25 boats were incapacitated or damaged. The entire party had to come ashore to make repairs and regroup, and some had to finish the journey via land because their boats couldn't be repaired.
That makes this spot a perfect one for "Ms. Takes by the Lake." I suppose Colonel Bradstreet immediately regretted his decision too. I've had a few regretful experiences at the landing so far, mostly to do with my children complaining about being outside in the winter.
Then, there was the time I tried to cross the tributary after rain and filled my wellies with water in 30-degree air. Just know that this little strip has known disaster and proceed with adequate caution and appropriate warm clothing in the winter.
So far, I have seen some amazing birds at Bradstreet's Landing. One of the first times I visited, I observed a bald eagle flying over the beach. It was majestic to see an eagle unexpectedly like that. The most recent time I visited, a blue heron came up and landed on the beach (also pretty majestic).
It made me chuckle because I had just seen Migration (2023) with my kids and the heron gets a comedic spotlight in the film. I've seen many other ducks and birds around the beach, but I'm not a birder, so I wouldn't be able to identify them. If you like bird watching, this beach is a great spot to do it.
If you craft with beach glass, and you're short a few blues or greens, this is a great beach to visit and quickly find a handful. I definitely make use of my reptile litter scoop at this beach, because the glass layers with the stones, and you can find some of the best treasures underneath the top layer.
One last tip for Bradstreet's landing is to bring a big enough container for your glass. If you roll up on this beach with a snack ziploc bag, you'll be stuffing your pockets with glass before you leave. I keep a bucket in the trunk of my car for random glass trips filled with bags and empty plastic cups for collecting (along with my boots, scoops and a jacket with zipped pockets to hold my car key - ask my why I insist on zipped pockets ha ha).
Recently I came unprepared and tried to use a sturdy paper bag to collect glass. DO NOT attempt this. About halfway through, the moisture from my finds degraded the bottom of the bag and I started leaking glass.
If you've never been to Bradstreet's landing, I highly recommend visitng. Just be sure to leave some glass for me :-).
Glassing Score: 9.3/10
Glassing Score: 9.3/10
Colors 9/10: - This beach is a great place to find green, amber and clear pieces. You can also routinely find blue and aqua glass in small quantities. I have also found individual rare colors like orange, red, purple and teal.
Quality 8/10: While there is a lot of immature glass on this beach, you can also frequently find "sea glass bubbles," or perfectly rounded, tumbled stones that almost glow even in low light. Bradstreet's Landing also has an abundance of crackled glass and fused bonfire glass. In general, there are a variety of glass types and maturities.
This glass was collected from 3:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. on January 1, 2024 at Bradstreet's Landing.
Size 10/10: the largest pieces in my collection were found at Bradstreet's Landing. Whenever I go looking for glass here, I find at least 5-10 larger pieces in varying colors. Amber, clear, green and aqua are the most common to find in larger sizes, but on a recent trip, I found a large piece of purple/lilac colored glass.
Ease 10/10: Finding glass at Bradstreet's landing is incredibly easy. There is a lot of glass that washes up on the shore as the surf is often rougher here than other beaches I visit. Then again, that may be because the first time I visited Bradstreet's Landing was November 2023 and it's just now January 2024. All of the glass hunting I've done so far has been winter hunting, which means I may have to come back and re-evaluate this in spring and summer when more people are out looking for glass and the weather is vastly different.
One tip is to hunt on both sides of the tributary. East of the pier there is a larger beach that is divided by a tributary running into the lake. What's really neat (if you're a glass nerd like me) is that the waves rush back up the tributary, depositing glass along either side of it all the way to the foot bridge. Another tip is - use the large concrete blocks to access the pier adjacent side rather than trying to cross the tributary (see the story above about me misjudging the depth).
Overall Experience 9.5/10: There are dozens of little spaces on this beach where one can find different sizes, qualities and colors of glass. Starting at the eastern edge of the pier, crossing the tributary that divides this half of the beach, and moving all the way to the eastern most point of the beach, there are piles of stones that can be sifted and searched. The surf also deposits glass pretty constantly in the winter, so one successful strategy is just to walk up and down the water's edge picking up the deposited pieces.
Why only 9.5 then? Well, the inconsistent restroom availability is an issue. It also seems like a pretty popular place for glass hunting, so you'll often see (even in winter) four or five people out doing the same. That said, the glass is plentiful and a good bit of it gets buried under layers of rock and sand, never to be found. There is definitely enough to go around.
Overall Glassing Score: 9.3/10 Bradstreet's landing will ruin other beaches for you. I went on a glass tour with the kids this holiday break and so many of the beaches I had heard were epic for finding beach glass ended up being disappointing. It's not that they weren't good, it's just that I have gotten used to the incredible availability at Bradstreet's Landing. You will have to be thoughtful and do a little bit of digging to walk away with a 30 oz. cup full of glass, but it's routinely possible at this beach.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse