Located just southeast of Cleveland, Ohio is Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We recently had the pleasure of visiting the park and learning more about the history.

Cuyahoga Valley is one of the more recent additions to the country’s national parks, having been designated a national park in 2000. In addition to preserving a beautiful swath of woodland forest, the park also includes a part of the Ohio and Erie Canal and towpath, which helped carry goods from the Ohio Valley to the East Coast, and vice versa. The canal was instrumental in helping the state of Ohio grow; however, railroads began replacing the canal in the mid 1850s. Today, stretches of the canal are still visible within Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and visitors can learn about this important part of Ohio and United States history. The canal’s towpath, along which people and animals helped move the canal boats, today functions as a hiking and biking trail through the park. This allows visitors to get great views of the canal, as well as the natural areas that the park preserves.

The park’s natural areas are also beautiful. As the national park explains, Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a meeting place of sorts of the Appalachian Plateau and the Central Lowlands. Visitors are treated to lovely hills and forested areas, with plenty of waterfalls, but also marshes. We were able to experience each of these different natural areas on three short hikes. First, we hiked to Brandywine Falls, a pounding 65-foot waterfall flowing through a small gorge.

Then, we hiked to Blue Hen Falls, a serene waterfall that flowed gently off a table rock amidst a large forest. While Brandywine Falls was impressive, Blue Hen Falls was peaceful.

Finally, we walked a short way along the canal towpath to a beaver marsh, a large wetlands area with lots of grasses. This was also a quiet, peaceful place. On our way to the marsh, we also got to see one of the old locks along the canal.

Because the Cuyahoga Valley experienced a lot of human activity, there are quite a few amenities there that you might not expect to find at a national park, such as a golf course and a ski resort. However, there are lots of opportunities to find solitude in this park. The natural areas are quite beautiful in a simple, tranquil way–a walk through the woods will leave you feeling rejuvenated, calm, and happy. In addition, like many national park sites, there are ample opportunities to learn about the history of the region and the importance it played in the development of the United States. We highly recommend a visit to Cuyahoga Valley National Park.