The Pinery Narrows is considered the skinniest part of the Cuyahoga River gorge. It got its name from the pine trees that once grew atop the deeply cut bedrock. Here two bridges cross the Cuyahoga River, bringing Summit and Cuyahoga counties together. The oldest is the 1881 Station Road Bridge. It was built of wrought iron in the style of a railroad bridge, using both older and newer technologies. Photographers love the arched Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge that dominates the view. Concrete was a relatively new construction material when it was built in 1931.

The river that re-carved these narrows has an unusual shape. It flows south from its headwaters in Geauga County until it hits Akron’s bedrock. There it turns sharply north, burrowing into a pre-glacial riverbed. This U-turn gives the river its name: Cuyahoga, after an Iroquoian word for curve or jawbone. The ridge it hits at Akron forms a continental divide, with water south of it flowing toward the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the water north flowing into Lake Erie at Cleveland. Cuyahoga Valley lies between the cities. The river and its terraces form the bottomlands. Steep ravines and rock ledges define the uplands on either side.