The Chagrin River

The Chagrin River runs through suburban areas of Greater Cleveland in Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage counties, transects two Cleveland Metroparks reservations, and then meanders into nearby Lake County before emptying into Lake Erie. The river has two branches, the Aurora Branch and East Branch. The Chagrin River was designated as a State Scenic River in 1979. It tends to clear up fairly fast due to its headwaters being on a protected sub-urban real estate and lush forests. It offers all types of scenery and wildlife and is the most diverse river of the five.

The Chagrin has every river situation one can ask for. The gradient is very good so you will find plenty of riffle-pool combinations. There are some clay shelves, but usually gives away to gravel. In the past it held native brook trout and anglers still find a few in upstream creeks. It is unique to the other Erie tributaries of Ohio because it holds good amounts of spring water due to the sandy water table. It is easily a 50/50 clay to gravel mix and the upstream and downstream sections easily mirror each other in bottom composition and structure.

Access is great because it has two metropark areas. If you hike a bit, you can be by yourself staring at bald eagles or blue herons. Many fishermen fall in love with the Chagrin for its larger size and productive waters. For these reason Fish With Jim Outfitters offers quality steelhead trips on this urban gem.