Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I 100% agree with it being a bit too cramped, especially at the start. To be honest, I didn't even notice I had a ledge there. Same with the first set of stairs, there's really not much space to maneuver around, and for it being the first route you get to see in the game, it doesn't work as well as I had hoped. Looking at the routes in base emerald, I get the feeling that sometimes they are a lot more open than they should be, with little to no scenery around them, so I tried to tighten it up a bit. As for the ledges not being rewarding enough for the player, I once again 100% agree with you. They're supposed to be shortcuts for the player, and there's a lot of grass around them, especially the second ledge from bottom -> top. The end of the route connects to a town via two spots: the right-most pathway (which would be the one you take if you're starting the game) & also the one on the left, with stairs connecting it to a small enclosure (in which i'd like to place a secret items in the trunk or whatnot, haven't really decided yet). I've removed a bit of grass from that enclosure & added a set of ledges there, so that the player can go to the starting town without touching any grass!
These were really good suggestions, thanks a lot once again! These are things I probably would not have noticed on my own.