The Cuyahoga was once described as a river that “oozes rather than flows.”

 Tainted by decades of unregulated sewage and industrial waste, the polluted river infamously caught on fire at least 13 times. 

After the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire, Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes (the first elected African American mayor of a major U.S. city) immediately held a press conference highlighting the region’s challenges with water quality. After TIME magazine published an article on the fire, the event went from a local news article to a national headline story on pollution. The striking image of Cleveland’s Burning River, combined with other environmental disasters of the time, captured the conscience of the American people and became a rallying cry for reform.

Mayor Stokes and other community advocates built public support for investing in this major river clean-up. Within three years of the fire, the federal 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act was passed, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District was developed, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was formed. Over the ensuing decades, the river slowly began to heal and wildlife returned to the valley. Cuyahoga Valley was protected as a national recreation area in 1974, and redesignated as a national park in 2000.

EXPLORING CUYAHOGA NATIONAL PARK-

Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Northeast Ohio was the first destination on Adam and I’s road trip sabbatical around the country. This 33,000-acre Ohio river valley receives far less publicity than the big parks like Yellowstone and Zion, so I didn’t know any of Cuyahoga’s history until we visited. I was struck by the valley’s gentle rolling hills, deep gorges, forested ridgelines, and blooming wildflowers. After learning of the many challenges associated with restoring Cuyahoga Valley, I felt an even deeper sense of appreciation and gratitude for these beautiful lands.

One of the park’s most popular destinations is the 87-mile Towpath Trail which hugs the Cuyahoga River and the historic Ohio & Erie Canal. This trail is named after the path that mules would take towing boats along the Ohio-Erie canal in the 1830’s. We biked about ~14 miles between Peninsula/Lock 29 and the Station Bridge Road. After spending time hand-building a wooden bike rack and installing it on the RV, we were excited to be able to use the bikes on Day One of our first National Park visit! (Shout-out to my wonderful in-laws for lending us their bikes for our trip!) Adam and I had a fantastic time cruising down Cuyahoga’s scenic Towpath with the wind at our backs. We enjoyed reading about the historic canal locks at various signage points and spotting wildlife like red-winged blackbirds, robins, and chipmunks. 

Unfortunately, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and all park visitor centers were still closed due to COVID-19; however, there were plenty of sights which had reopened to the public, with some precautions in place.

OUR FAVORITE PLACES-

#1: TowPath Trail (historic path hugging the historic Eerie canal and the Cuyahoga River; excellent views of most ecosystems in the park; beautiful wildflowers, forests, old towns, and railroad bridges; definitely bring your bike!)

#2: The Ledges (amazing 50 foot tall rock faces; eerie temperature drops; surprising transition between forest types)

#3: Bridalveil Falls (quiet trail along a small waterfall; flows through a deep gorge of interesting stacked slate rock outcroppings) 

#4: Brandywine Falls & Gorge Trail (biggest waterfall in the park; easy access for viewing; nice gorge trail)

MISADVENTURES-

We RV camped at Nimisila Reservoir Campgrounds outside of Akron, Ohio. It was a nice forested campsite with electrical hook-up available, but unfortunately there was no potable water available. We knew the hook-up situation going in, but we definitely underestimated how much time it took for us to find a gas station where we could fill-up our RV’s freshwater tank... 90 minutes and five tries! It was particularly ironic that the reservoir campground didn’t provide potable water access… because it is surrounded by a 850 acre lake and is the source of the city’s fresh drinking water! But all together, we enjoyed the location. Adam and I are still definitely amateur RV-ers so we hope to get faster at setting up our rig and figuring out dry camping work-arounds as we travel further along on the trip!

CUYAHOGA NATIONAL PARK STATISTICS-

Established: October 2000      /      Size: 33,000 acres

Annual Visitors: 2.2 million     /       Location: Ohio

The juxtaposition of freeways and natural scenery within Cuyahoga National Park is noteworthy. On some scenic park trails, noise pollution from trucks driving on adjoining highways could be rather disconcerting. On the bright-side, Cuyahoga’s proximity to larger metropolitan areas is also a strength. It means that this park is located close to multiple means of transport, highly accessible, and easy for many families to visit. Cuyahoga has many beautiful pockets of preserved wilderness where you can easily lose yourself among the waterfalls, trees, and meadows.

The restoration of Cuyahoga Valley is a story that is still being written. The incredible progress it has made so far is a true American success story and one that inspires great hope for other beautiful natural wonders around the world. Cuyahoga National Park is underrated and definitely worth experiencing.

~Safe Travels, Nathalie

500 miles traveled and 1 national park explored