Cuyahoga Valley: Natural gem hides in plain sight in Ohio

Susanne Cervenka | USA TODAY

Try to pin down one thing that makes Cuyahoga Valley National Park a favorite, and the consensus will be ... that that can't be done.

The nearly 33,000-acre park is tucked away — some might say hidden — between the Cleveland and Akron metro areas in northeastern Ohio. Yet it boasts a variety of experiences that reflect how the local area, and the country as a whole, developed.

"The biggest comment we get from visitors is, 'I had no idea you had this much to offer,' " says Mary Pat Doorley, a public affairs officer with the park. "You can have a biking experience, a train experience, eat fresh, locally grown farm food, and look and see some of the wildlife that has come back. It's the history of our country."

Among the top features of the park is the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, which was built in the late 1800s to move people and goods. For $3, visitors can ride in historic train cars to see much of the 20-mile-long park.

Visitors can also learn about the development of the Ohio & Erie Canal, which runs through the park, and how it affected the way products move throughout America, Doorley says. On weekends, the park staff dons period costumes and shows how boats moved through the canal's locks.

The revival of the Cuyahoga River, which infamously caught fire in 1969 and helped spur major federal environmental legislation, brought back much of the natural wildlife, including bald eagles and river otters, Doorley says.

Doorley has seen a change in the kind of visitors the park sees since it was elevated to national park status in 2000 after a quarter-century as a national recreation area: "If you had talked to me 10 years ago, I would have said we were pretty much a day-use park frequented by the local residents."

Park officials believe that is starting to shift, based on the number of out-of-state license plates in its visitors center parking lots. They hope to confirm that hunch with a more detailed visitors survey this summer.

Yet the park still gets strong support locally, Doorley says. It has about 6,000 volunteers, one of the largest volunteer networks in the National Park Service.

Nima Zaaeed, a science teacher with the public schools in Lakewood, Ohio, takes a class of about 15 students each year to Cuyahoga Valley as part of a summer field ecology program.

The main goals of the trip: to find evidence of geological changes over thousands of years, learn about the different layers of earth and conduct soil sampling to see variations between different types of tree habitats.

Of the nine different sites they visit with the program, students regularly pick Cuyahoga Valley National Park as their favorite spot, or at least the runner up, Zaaeed says. And it's not hard for her to understand why.

"It's the perfect combination of history and beauty and geology," she says. "You get a little bit of everything."

Her favorite part is Ritchie Ledges, a high point that allows her to view the beauty of nature left to unfurl without human interference.

Guy Cipriano of Bay Village, Ohio, says he and his wife, Dena, visit the park at least once or twice a week to run and bike the Towpath Trail, an 85-mile trail that runs from Cleveland to Tuscarawas County.

Cipriano says he applauds the decision to preserve the land, which he believes otherwise would have been built up into suburbs. "It gives you a sense of being in the middle of nowhere when you are in the middle of everything," he says.

Cervenka also reports for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press.

About the park

Size: About 32,950 acres.

Visitors: 2,189,849 in 2014

Established: Cuyahoga Valley became a national park in 2000, but it had been a national recreation area since 1974.

History: The area first became a recreation destination for residents in nearby cities in the 1870s. Efforts to develop the area as a park began in the 1910s and 1920s.

When visiting: The park is not gates and has multiple entrances. Boston Shore Visitor Center at 1500 Boston Mills Road in Peninsula is the main visitors center. For information: 330-657-2752.

Of note: Local advocates wanting to preserve Cuyahoga Valley initially were met with resistance from the National Park Service. In 1973, the park service director said, "I will tell you one thing. (The Cuyahoga Valley) will be a park over my dead body."