By Contributor,Gary Stoller

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Arizona’s Horseshoe Bend Trail near the Colorado River is named the No. 2 trail for beginner hikes, according to a new study. (Photo: Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
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Many travelers cherish memorable walks and hikes on their vacations. They may be interested in a new study that reveals some of America’s best hiking trails for beginners.

Ohio’s Ledges Trail ranks No. 1, according to the study by travel insurance company InsureMyTrip. The trail is a 2.4-mile loop in Cuyahoga Valley National Park that takes about 55 minutes to complete and is “easy, scenic and just 1.4 miles from the nearest town,” InsureMytrip says.

The study analyzed 49 popular trails in 12 states and ranked the trails based on the number of Google reviews, distance, estimated walking time, elevation and average autumn temperature. Only easy and moderate trails found at AllTrails were considered, and trails that ascend more than 2,000 feet were excluded.

A trail in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park was named the No. 1 hiking trail for beginners in a new study. (Photo: Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images

Arizona’s Horseshoe Bend Trail is the second-best hiking trail for beginners, the InsureMyTrip study says. New Jersey’s Mount Tammany, via the Red Dot and Blue Dot loop trails, ranks No. 3.

Colorado’s Red Rocks Trading Post Trail outside Denver is the fourth-best trail for beginners, followed, respectively, by two California trails, Lower Yosemite Fall and Lands End. Three trails—Colorado’s St. Mary’s Glacier, Arizona’s Devil’s Bridge via Mescal trailhead and Washington’s Discovery Park and Lighthouse Loop—tie for No. 7. Concluding the top 10 is Utah’s Zion Canyon Overlook Trail.

Ohio’s top-ranked Ledges Trail is in a park that’s “a refuge for native plants and wildlife,” the National Park Service says. “The winding Cuyahoga River gives way to deep forests, rolling hills and open farmlands.”

Travelers heading there this fall will likely see peak foliage colors during the third week of October.

“The sugar and red maples are usually the first to display spectacular reds, yellows and oranges,” the park service says. “They are followed by the white and pin oak becoming a brownish red. Black gum, dogwood and northern red oak turn various shades of red. Tulip tree, bigtooth aspen, silver maple and black maple change to yellow.”

Arizona’s Horseshoe Bend Trail is 1 1/2 miles and leads to one of Arizona’s most photographed landscapes, InsureMyTrip says.

There are two structures providing shade on the trail, but none at the scenic overlook, the park service says.

“There are railings at the edge of the overlook’s viewing platform but not along the trail,” the park service warns. “Much of the rim remains exposed to the 1,000-foot drop, so watch your footing and keep track of your children and pets.”

The aerial view of the Delaware River flowing through the Delaware River Gap in autumn is impressive. (Photo: Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

No. 3-ranked Mount Tammany via the Red Dot and Blue Dot trails offets a “fantastic overlook of the Delaware Water Gap and Mt. Minsi,” according to the NJ Hiking website.

The 3 1/2-mile hike is rocky, steep and strenuous. The Red Dot Trail is harder to negotiate going down, so the website recommends hikers go up the Red Dot Trail and return on the Blue Dot Trail.

Before embarking on any of the top 10 trails, check whether there are any “natural hazards or seasonal closures that may impact plans,” InsureMy Trip says.

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