About a year ago I spent an overnight in Cleveland while accompanying Levie on his drive home.
Given the opportunity, we chose a hotel right in the central part city and used the next day to check out Cuyahoga Valley National Park nearby.
I had heard a lot of mixed reviews of the park, with it being just a few miles south of Cleveland, and wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t want to kill the suspense, but I loved the park! Yes, it’s much more urban than other national parks, but it still had a ton of cool nature.
Not to get off track, but I think the whole idea of park is to create an accessible and preserved slice of nature. Yes, there are highways crossing through the park, but this park perfectly fits this criteria. I feel like it’s a great representation of America’s urban parks and therefore deserves its spot as a national park.
Anyway, here’s a quick recap of our day.
We spent the night at the Westin hotel in Downtown Cleveland, which meant starting the day with this view of Terminal Tower. At one point, it was the second tallest building in the world!
As you can see now, it is much smaller than the adjacent Key Tower. The building is still the second tallest in Ohio though!
Both of these giants were quite the sight through the dirty window.
As it was a Saturday morning, the streets below were just starting to wake up.
We went downstairs to get coffee at Rising Star Coffee Roasters in the city’s Arcade.
It wasn’t long before we were enroute to the national park!
Along the way, we made a few detours.
The first was to Brewnuts, a donut shop that makes beer-based donuts.
I had tried to go a few years ago with my friends, but it ended up being closed on the sole day we were in the city.
The multi-year wait was worth it though as the donuts were so good!
From here, we continued our detour from the national park to Edgewater Park along Lake Erie.
It was mayfly season and these little bugs were EVERYWHERE! They concentrated themselves on rocks by the shoreline creating a film of sorts.
I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to meet him yet, but Benny did not love the bugs.
Had the bugs not been as bad, I imagine we would have stayed longer. But we decided to head down to Cuyahoga Valley. It was about an hour drive south to the national park.
Our first stop was Boston Mill Visitor Center, the park’s central headquarters and largest visitor center.
According to the National Park Service, the building housing the visitor center was once a general store in 1905.
We took Benny on a quick walk across the Cuyahoga River before taking a peek at the exhibits inside. It wasn’t a huge exhibit, but featured enough to get a start on exploring.
The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad seemed to pass every few minutes. If we had more time, I would have loved to take a trip on the train!
Across the street from Boston Mill is the trailhead for Blue Hen Falls.
Aside from the noise of the nearby highway, it felt like we were in the middle of nature.
It’s about two miles through some wooded hills to reach the waterfall.
The trail wasn’t super difficult, but had a few stairways to get over the hills.
Upon return to our car, we left the park to grab lunch. Unlike some other national parks, there are quite a few restaurants in the immediate area.
We ended up at Tacos Mexicanos in Macedonia. As pretty as the park was, the surrounding town was nowhere near as nice.
After running a few errands, we were back at Brandywine Falls, the park’s most popular attraction.
After an unnecessary battle for a parking spot, we walked down a short trail to the overlook.
I definitely wasn’t expecting a waterfall so grand in Ohio!
Along the way, I really liked how the boardwalk was cut into a rock ledge and the way it was incorporated into hanging over the trail.
After ample time observing the falls, we finished our time in the park at the Ledges trail.
Benny found a water bottle on the way and played his part in conservation by taking it with us.
The trail was really pretty! Sadly, we had to leave for dinner plans back in Cleveland before we could reach the cool rock formations. I can’t wait to return soon and finish the trail.
What really stuck out to me was a large field right by the parking lot. There were quite a few people enjoying the warm evening there and it was such a serene sight.
After dinner, I was on a flight back to D.C.!
It’s kind of hard to tell, but we flew right over the national park!
Before circling back to a grand view of Cleveland.
It was a super short flight and we landed in D.C. just over an hour later.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time in the park! It was relatively short so I’m definitely looking forward to coming back soon when I can spend more time exploring!
So what if it doesn’t have the largest cliff faces in the country? I really liked Cuyahoga Valley and the purpose of protecting a bit of nature for those in Northeast Ohio.
Turquoise Skies 