Blogs from Cuyahoga Valley NP, Ohio, United States, North America

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Joan is still having some pain issues in her back, but they aren’t severe and, with the bones back in the right places, her shoulder is a little sore, but manageable. She spent most of yesterday sleeping - fighting that much pain is exhausting. But she also managed to shower herself, so she’s going to be able to do a few things on her own. We’ve decided, at least temporarily, that we have so much invested in this trip that we don’t want to cancel it right now. We are going to be leaving Ohio, headed for points north, today so it will be a good test of what its going to take to travel with three arms instead of four. I certainly don’t want to abandon the trip, but ... read more

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland/Akron, Ohio We continued exploring the park on foot yesterday by tackling the second-biggest ‘official’ hike in the park. Called the Plateau Trail, it is south of Peninsula a couple of miles and is accessible at the Valley Picnic Area off of Riverview Road. (There is a larger parking lot with facilities on the other side of the trail area.) It is considered ‘moderate to difficult’ in Park lingo, although even us old folks managed it so I’m not sure about the ‘difficult’ part - the elevation change is only 200 feet over the 5 mile length of the trail. There is a shorter version available, called the Oak Hill trail and using pieces of both trails you can carve out your own path. The trail gets its name because it is ... read more

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland/Akron, Ohio This is truly a spectacular park. And yet, it is very difficult to explain what makes it such a treasure. The mountains aren’t nearly as spectacular as the Great Smoky’s. The hemlock and beech forests are soothing and lush, but not nearly as tall as Congaree or Redwoods. There is no Old Faithful geyser, or anything like it to draw throngs to a single spot. The closest thing I can compare it to is Central Park in the middle of New York City, although Central Park is substantially smaller. Cuyahoga Valley, like Central Park, is known as an ‘urban retreat’, a place city people can go to to restore their energy and re-embrace nature. As we explored this park over the last couple of days we did run into out-of-staters ... read more

Today was very fun! We spent a day outdoors at Cuyahoga Valley National Park south of Cleveland, OH. After making the drive from Indiana, we stopped by the visitors center to get information on what we could do in the park for the rest of the afternoon. We drove and hiked around Brandywine Falls and then did a much longer hike around the ledges area. There was a cave (Ice Box Cave, very cold) and then a scenic overlook of the park. Because of a 100% chance of rain, we got yet another cheap hotel and stayed the night in Akron, OH. We ate at Applebys, where there was a balloon artist entertaining all the kids and adults. Our next stop is Hershey, PA. More to come... ... read more