22) Cuyahoga Valley National Park, November 15 – November 18, 2009

Location: Northeast Ohio, between Akron and Cleveland; N41 16.681 W81 32.319

We only thought our traveling was over until after the holidays. Our son and daughter-in-law called to see where we were and if we could meet them somewhere on their journey across country as they moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco (two GREAT food towns). As luck would have it, Cuyahoga Valley National Park was right on their path. It is an urban park, located between the major cities of Akron and Cleveland, Ohio, in the northeast corner of the state. There are several interstates and other major roads passing through it, and yet there are several places to hike and find total isolation. The Park Service is doing an excellent job of preserving some wild area along the Cuyahoga River in the midst of city and suburban life.

Urban Woods in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The coordinates above locate the Inn at Brandywine Falls, where we stayed. The inn, located inside the park, is a farmhouse built in 1848 and has been lovingly restored by the inn owners. It is nearly centered north and south in the park but is on the far eastern border, to give you a little perspective if you head to Google Earth or other mapping application. Besides the twisting (Cuyahoga is an Americanized version of the native word for crooked) river valley, the major feature of the park is the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath. A couple of the old locks are restored, and a bike/hike trail follows it the whole way.

Inn at Brandywine Falls

Farmyard at Inn

(The chickens worked overtime laying eggs for our breakfasts. DELISH!)

BYK along the Ohio & Erie Towpath

We arrived late in the day, so the next morning, even before getting to a visitor center, we hiked the Brandywine Falls Loop Trail, because its start is adjacent to the Inn, and it is one of the more popular sites in the park. There are five visitor centers in the park, each providing a little different perspective. We didn’t make it to all of them because of the seasonal hours of some of them. The Canal Visitor Center is open year round, has a good museum, film, and restored canal lock just outside, and we got some good information there. The Hunt Farm Visitor Center was closed when we got there, but the ranger was there and let us in for a couple of minutes.

Brandywine Falls

Restored Canal Lock

There is lots of hiking to do besides the many miles of the canal towpath. We hiked the Ledges Loop Trail, which took us through evergreen forest, down below and along large rock formations, past strangler fig trees (reminiscent of Southeast Asia for the kids), and through old-growth forest. We also took part of the Ira Trail out to the Beaver Marsh to try to get a glimpse of some beavers. They decided it was too cold to show themselves, and we decided it was too cold to wait any longer, so we saw none. Our last hike was relatively short to Blue Hen Falls. That is a very pretty trail and waterfall.

Along the Ledges Loop Trail

Tenacity

Blue Hen Falls

A surprise attraction close by was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. We thought that we could easily get through it in two or three hours. We spent just over 4 hours, saw one of the six floors and never made it to the Hall of Fame floor. We would have stayed longer, but it was getting late. As it was, it put the kids on the road to Chicago and us on the road back to the Inn during Cleveland’s rush hour (after a 4 o’clock “lunch” at a nice brewpub). The traffic was not a lot of fun, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was amazing.

Another thing that would have been fun was a trip through the park on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad , but it was only running on the weekends during the time that we were there. So, as usual, we have things that we need to come back to do.