Visiting Cuyahoga National Park

Cuyahoga Valley National Park sits between Cleveland and Akron and protects the landscape surrounding the Cuyahoga River along with historic sections of the Ohio & Erie Canal. One of the most popular ways to explore the park is the Towpath Trail, photographed above on the left. There were plenty of cyclists using it when I visited, along with hikers like myself and the occasional jogger. The trail follows the route of the old canal system that helped connect Ohio with the Great Lakes and the rest of the country during the 19th century. On the right are the remains of one of the old canal locks that once helped boats overcome changes in elevation.

I’ll be honest: when I first stepped into Cuyahoga Valley and began exploring, I was a little disappointed. Here I was in a national park walking the Towpath Trail while passing fences and no-trespassing signs along sections of the route. Aside from the historic canal, at first I wasn’t really seeing what made this feel like a national park. My opinion changed pretty quickly once I left the Towpath and started exploring some of the smaller hiking trails. The paved and developed surroundings gave way to wooded footpaths, thick vegetation, ponds, streams, and a landscape that felt much more removed from the cities surrounding the park.

Once I got farther into the woods, this was much more like what I had expected to find. The trails passed through dense forest and around wetlands and ponds, and there was a surprising amount of wildlife considering how close the park is to major urban areas.

I’m not sure if I just got lucky, but I came across quite a few animals during what wasn’t even a particularly long hike. I wasn’t able to photograph most of them, although I managed to catch the rabbit on the left as it fled down the trail. The squirrel on the right was much less concerned about me. It was making a surprisingly loud barking sound and didn’t seem bothered that I was standing only a dozen feet away. With so many people hiking and cycling through the park, some of the wildlife here seemed pretty accustomed to having humans nearby.

I also came across this small toad sitting along the trail. I happened to have my macro lens with me, so after taking a normal photograph I switched lenses and got a much closer look. Since the macro lens was already on my camera, I started paying more attention to some of the smaller wildlife around me as well.

That resulted in these two photographs: a dragonfly on the left and another insect I came across on the right. Between the larger animals, insects, ponds, and thick forest, the park ended up having considerably more wildlife than I had expected when I first stepped onto the Towpath Trail.

Continuing through the park brought me past exposed rock formations and small creeks cutting through the forest. Cuyahoga Valley doesn’t have the enormous mountains or dramatic wilderness found in many western national parks, but once I got away from the more developed areas I began to appreciate it for what it was: a surprisingly green and wild landscape squeezed between some of Ohio’s largest cities.

The last place I visited in Cuyahoga Valley National Park was Brandywine Falls, and it was easily the most scenic part of the park I saw. You can reach the falls with a short walk from a nearby parking area, or make it part of a longer hike through the surrounding trails. Near the waterfall, a boardwalk follows the rocky gorge and provides views of the exposed layers of stone along the way.

Brandywine Falls drops about 65 feet into the gorge below and made a great finale to my visit. The waterfall can look completely different depending on the season, and during particularly cold winters portions of it can freeze. By the time I reached the falls, my first impression of Cuyahoga Valley had completely changed. What initially seemed like an unusually developed national park turned into a day of wooded trails, wildlife, streams, historic sites, and one of the most impressive waterfalls in Ohio.