Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a national park in the United States located in Ohio. It protects and maintains the landscape along the Cuyahoga River between the cities of Akron and Cleveland in Northeast Ohio.

The park covers an area of 32,783 acres (51.2 square miles; 132.7 square kilometers). It is managed by the National Park Service, but some areas within the park are operated separately as county parks or by public and private businesses. Cuyahoga Valley was first named a national recreation area (NRA) in 1974. It became a national park 26 years later, in 2000, and is the only national park in the United States that began as a national recreation area.

Cuyahoga Valley is the only national park in Ohio and one of three in the Great Lakes Basin. The other two are Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior and Indiana Dunes National Park near Lake Michigan. This park is unique because it is near two large cities and includes roads, a railroad, power lines, small towns, businesses, four Cleveland Metroparks reservations, four parks, one trail from Summit Metro Parks, and public and private attractions. In 2023, it was the twelfth-most visited national park in the United States, welcoming nearly 2.9 million visitors. This high number of visitors is mainly because the park is close to Cleveland and Akron.

History

The Hopewell Culture lived in the area around 200 AD and built the Everett Mound near Everett inside the park.

No Native American tribes in Ohio have official recognition from the federal government today. However, the people who lived in the Cuyahoga Valley before European settlers arrived were Native Americans. Many groups, including the Wyandot, Iroquois, Ottawa, Ojibwe, Munsee, Potawatomi, Miami, Catawba, and Shawnee, lived in or passed through this area. The Lenapé Nation, also called the Lenape’wàk or Delaware Nation, are known as "the Grandfathers" of many Native Nations in the upper Ohio River Valley. Their society was fair and equal, with leaders (called sachems) who asked elders for advice before making decisions. The Lenapé were skilled at making tools, pottery, clothing, and baskets. They also traded goods over long distances.

In the 1700s and 1800s, wars, unfair treaties, and changes in laws forced the Lenapé to move west and south from their original homes in present-day New York City, the lower Hudson Valley, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and northern Delaware. They traveled through the Ohio River Valley and Cuyahoga Valley before settling mainly in Oklahoma and Ontario, Canada. Land was very important to the Lenapé because they relied on hunting and farming for food. As they moved west, the land in Pennsylvania and Ohio had similar conditions to their original homes, allowing them to continue farming, hunting, and fishing. However, because of continued treaties and conflicts, they did not have enough time to form strong connections with the land in the Ohio River Valley. To protect their culture, territory, and resources, Lenapé communities formed alliances with each other.

The Lenapé changed their hunting habits after European contact because the fur trade became more important than keeping animal populations healthy. This caused the numbers of beavers and other fur-bearing animals to drop sharply. Trade networks depended on waterways that Native people had used for many years.

The Lenapé no longer live in the Cuyahoga Valley mainly because of forced laws and violent conflicts. The 1795 Treaty of Greenville set the Cuyahoga River as the boundary between Native lands and European settlements. In 1805, 500,000 acres of land, including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, was given up by Native Nations in the Treaty of Fort Industry. The treaty promised each group $1,000 per year, but this was not honored. Other treaties took Lenapé land without their full agreement. Today, the Lenapé are more commonly called the Delaware Nation, with a main headquarters in Oklahoma. They also live in Kansas, Wisconsin, Ontario, Canada, and their ancestral lands in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

The Cuyahoga Valley became a place for recreation in the 1870s, with people from nearby cities visiting for horse-drawn rides or boat trips on the canal. In 1880, the Valley Railway provided another way to escape city life. Park development began in the 1910s and 1920s with the creation of Cleveland and Akron park districts. In 1929, businessman Hayward Kendall donated 430 acres of land around the Ritchie Ledges and a trust fund to the state of Ohio. His will required the land to be used for parks forever, and the area was named Virginia Kendall Park after his mother. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built parts of the park, including the Happy Days Lodge and shelters. The lodge, near Peninsula, was built in 1938–1939 as a camp for city children and is now used for special events.

By the 1960s, people worried that urban growth would harm the natural beauty of the Cuyahoga Valley. Pollution from factories and sewage, along with fires on the Cuyahoga River in 1952 and 1969, also damaged the environment. Citizens worked with government officials to find a solution. On December 27, 1974, President Gerald Ford signed a law to create the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, even though the administration had suggested opposing it.

After Congress approved the land purchase, the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers managed the area. Superintendent William C. Birdsell made decisions about buying homes or preserving land without a clear plan. His changing priorities and management style caused frustration among local residents and criticism from the National Park Service.

In 1985, the National Park Service acquired the 47-acre Krejci Dump and asked the Environmental Protection Agency to study the site. Toxic materials were found, and the area was closed in 1986 as a superfund site under the 1980 law. Lawsuits were filed against companies like Ford, General Motors, and 3M. 3M refused to settle and lost a court case. Toxic waste was removed from 1987 to 2012, and restoration was completed by 2015.

Congress redesignated the area a national park in 2000. The park is managed by the National Park Service, and the David Berger National Memorial in Beachwood is also part of it. The Richfield Coliseum, a sports arena, was demolished in 1999 and became part of the park in 2000. The site is now a grassy meadow used for birdwatching.

In 2024, Cuyahoga Valley National Park signed a "sister park" agreement with Dartmoor National Park in England to work together on conservation efforts. This is the first such agreement between the two parks.

Wildlife

Animals found in the park are typical of Ohio. They include raccoons, muskrats, coyotes, skunks, red foxes, beavers, peregrine falcons, river otters, bald eagles, opossums, three types of moles, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, gray foxes, minks, great blue herons, and seven types of bats.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park has many types of trees, such as maples, oaks, pines, juniper, yew, magnolias, tulip trees, spruces, hemlocks, and sycamores. Grass grows in open areas and includes Kentucky bluegrass, black bentgrass, redtop, annual ryegrass, timothy, Phragmites, velvet grass, poverty grass, switchgrass, and bromegrass. Sedges like Golden-fruited sedge, fox sedge, and needle spikerush are near water. Flowers such as spring beauty, yellow trout lily, toothwort, hepatica, bloodroot, dwarf ginseng, Virginia bluebells, spring cress, purple cress, rue anemone, foam flower, twin leaf, bishop's cap, squirrel corn, violets, and jack-in-the-pulpit are common. Woodferns, Bracken fern, Horsetails, Christmas ferns, hay-scented fern, Cinnamon fern, and Royal Ferns are found throughout the park.

Climate

The Boston Mill Visitor Center at Cuyahoga Valley National Park has a type of climate that is warm in the summer and cold in the winter, with plenty of moisture (Köppen climate classification Dfa). The plant hardiness zone at Boston Store Visitor Center is 6a, and the lowest temperature that can be expected on average each year is −6.5 °F (−21.4 °C).

Attractions

Cuyahoga Valley National Park includes natural, man-made, and private areas, which is unusual for a national park. The park includes areas not owned by the federal government, such as four reservations from the Cleveland Metroparks, as well as four parks and one trail from Summit Metro Parks.

Natural areas in the park include forests, hills, narrow valleys, wetlands, rivers, and waterfalls. About 100 waterfalls are in the park, with Brandywine Falls being the most popular. Brandywine Falls is 65 feet tall and is the tallest waterfall in the park and the fourth-tallest in Ohio. The Ledges are a rock formation that offers views of the wooded areas. Talus caves are found among the rocks near the Ledges.

The park has several trails, including the 20-mile Towpath Trail. This trail follows a former part of the Ohio and Erie Canal and is used for hiking, biking, and running. In winter, visitors can ski or sled at Kendall Hills. Other activities include golf, scenic train rides, and events like concerts and theater performances at places like Blossom Music Center and Kent State University’s Porthouse Theatre. The park also has displays of 19th- and early 20th-century farming, such as the Hale Farm and Village. In the 1980s, the park hosted the National Folk Festival.

The Towpath Trail was built by the National Park Service and runs about 21 miles from Independence in the north to Summit County’s Bike & Hike trail in the south. It follows the Cuyahoga River for much of its length. Restrooms are available at trailheads, and food and drink places are near Rockside Road, the Boston Store, and a seasonal farmer’s market. Three visitor centers are along the trail: the Canal Exploration Center, Boston Store, and Hunt House. The trail connects to a Cleveland Metroparks trail at Rockside Road and continues through Akron, Stark, and Tuscarawas counties to Zoar, Ohio, with only a short break. Parts of the trail outside the park are managed by other agencies. The trail also connects to the Buckeye Trail and other local trails.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR) runs along the Towpath Trail during special events. Visitors can ride the train from Rockside Road to Akron, with stops along the way. The train is popular with bicyclists and for viewing fall colors. The CVSR is owned and operated independently.

The Towpath Trail follows the historic Ohio and Erie Canal, built between 1825 and 1832. Before the canal, travel in Ohio was difficult, and moving crops to market was hard. The canal connected Cleveland on Lake Erie to Portsmouth on the Ohio River, linking Ohio to the rest of the eastern United States. Signs along the trail explain the canal’s history and features.

Visitors can walk or ride the same path that mules used to pull canal boats. Today, the canal is dry, but evidence of beavers can be seen along the trail.

Stanford House, a historic 19th-century farmhouse built in the 1830s, is located near Peninsula. The National Park Service bought the house in 1978 to use as a youth hostel. In 2011, it became Stanford House, the park’s first lodging facility. The house is only available for rent as a whole and is not open to the public for overnight stays. Camping and overnight parking are not allowed in the park.

Trailhead parking for the Towpath Trail is available at several locations. These include:

• Lock 39: West of Rockside Road; 41°23′35″N 81°37′43″W
• Canal Exploration Center: At Hillside Road; 41°22′21″N 81°36′47″W
• Frazee House: South of Alexander Road, north of Sagamore Road; 41°21′09″N 81°35′33″W

Along Riverview Road:

• Station Road Bridge: East of Chippewa Creek Drive; 41°19′07″N 81°35′17″W
• Red Lock: East of the river, along Vaughn/Highland Road; 41°17′21″N 81°33′48″W
• Boston Store: East on Boston Mills Road; 41°15′48″N 81°33′34″W
• Peninsula Depot: East across the river on Route 303; 41°14′36″N 81°32′57″W
• Lock 28: South of Major Road; 41°13′48″N 81°33′17″W
• Hunt House: At Bolanz Road; 41°12′01″N 81°34′19″W
• Ira Road: North of the intersection; 41°11′04″N 81°34′59″W
• Botzum Station: South of Bath Road; 41°09′30″N 81°34′26″W

Geology

The "V" shape of the Cuyahoga River is unusual. It first flows southwest and then turns sharply north to empty into Lake Erie near where it begins. The left side of the "V" flows north through the park and follows an older valley that existed before glaciers. The right side of the "V" follows a newer drainage path. The newer path cut through the older valley at Cuyahoga Falls, the bottom of the "V." Other streams have carved paths into the older valley by creating gorges with waterfalls, such as those along Tinkers, Brandywine, and Chippewa Creeks. These waterfalls form as water erodes the Bedford Shale, which lies beneath the harder Berea Sandstone. Glacial material fills the valley to a depth of 400 feet (120 m). This fill is complex because water from melting ice ponded in front of the glaciers before and after each ice advance. Deposits such as beach sands, gravel bars, and shoreline materials from Lake Maumee, as well as gravels from Lake Arkona, and ridges from the shores of Lake Whittlesey, Lake Warren, and Lake Wayne, are found in the valley.

A clear remnant of the Wisconsin glaciation is the Defiance moraine, which stretches from Defiance in western Ohio across the state into Pennsylvania. As Cushing et al. note, "The Defiance moraine represents the last major stop of the glacial front in this region." The moraine is 2–4 miles (3.2–6.4 km) wide and, according to Leverett, "looks like a broad wave whose top rises 20 to 50 feet above the land next to it." This moraine forms a lobe that extends south into the valley for 8 miles (13 km) to Peninsula. The lobe is 6 miles (9.7 km) wide at the northern end and narrows to 3 miles (4.8 km) at the southern end. Kames and eskers mark the area south of the moraine up to the southern edge of the glacier.

The Berea Sandstone and Bedford Shale were formed in a river delta environment during the Lower Mississippian period. River channels were carved into the Bedford Shale, and later, these channels were filled with Berea Sandstone. These rock layers created the dramatic gorges and waterfalls in the valley and were also used for economic purposes. The Berea Sandstone was quarried in Berea for grindstones and building materials, while the lower part of the Bedford Shale was quarried in South Euclid and Cleveland Heights for bluestone.

The Sharon Conglomerate is a Lower Pennsylvanian rock layer made of sandstone and conglomerate. According to Cushing et al., "it forms separate areas or outliers that sit on the highest hills… these outliers stand out above the surrounding land" because they resist erosion. The Boston Ledges are a notable example. As the Mississippian shale beneath the Sharon Conglomerate erodes, large blocks of the Sharon Conglomerate remain. As Cushing et al. explain, "frost action pushes these blocks apart, cracks widen into caves, and a jumble of blocks forms, separated by uneven passages."

Shale gas has been produced in the area since 1883, when H.A. Mastick drilled a well in Rockport Township to a depth of 527 feet (161 m), producing 21,643 cubic feet (612.9 m³) of gas daily. A gas boom occurred in 1914–1915, and by 1931, hundreds of gas wells were operating from the Devonian Huron Shale. Gas was extracted from 1,250 feet (380 m) of shale at depths between 400–1,840 feet (120–560 m). Pressures ranged from 3–135 psi (21–931 kPa), producing less than 20,000 cubic feet (570 m³) of gas daily, enough to light a few homes or provide heat. As Cushing et al. noted in the 1930s, "there are vast amounts of petroleum in the Devonian shales." Since then, the Marcellus Shale and deeper Utica Shale have shown economic value.

• Map tracing the extent of the Defiance Moraine
• Geological map of surface glacial features
• Ohio glacial boundary
• Geological map of rock outcrops
• Geologic cross section

Visitor centers

The Canal Exploration Center is found at the intersection of Canal Road and Hillside Road in Valley View, south of Rockside Road. The visitor center includes interactive maps and games that focus on the history of the canal, particularly between 1825 and 1876. The building, which was used during the canal era, once served passengers waiting to pass through Lock 38 of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

The Boston Store was built in 1836 and is located just east of Riverview Road. The building was used as a warehouse, store, post office, and a place for people to gather. The visitor center has a museum with displays about how canal boats were built. Visitors can watch a short video, view maps, and pick up brochures and NPS passport stamps.

The Hunt House is located at the intersection of Riverview and Bolanz Roads and is an example of a late-19th-century family farm in the Cuyahoga Valley. Visitors can learn about park activities and view exhibits about the area's farming history. The farm is near the canal towpath trail, making it a good place to start hiking or biking.

The Frazee House is on Canal Road in Valley View, south of Rockside Road, and was built between 1825 and 1826, during the same time the northern part of the canal was being dug. The house shows what a Western Reserve home looked like and has displays about building methods and the Frazee family.

Points of historic interest

All properties shown here are available for public access, although some may only be open in certain ways—check the Status column for details. Many National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) sites that are included in the full list are owned by private individuals and are not included here.