Paul & Tara Visit the National Parks: Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The big five-O! Cuyahoga Valley was our 50th National Park visited.

Visited: Sept 2020

Nearby city: Cleveland, OH

There's a red moon rising

On the Cuyahoga River

Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's an oil barge winding

Down the Cuyahoga River

Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

Cleveland, city of light, city of magic

Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me

Cleveland, even now I can remember

'Cause the Cuyahoga River

Goes smokin' through my dreams

Burn on, big river, burn on

Now the Lord can make you tumble

Now the Lord can make you turn

Now the Lord can make you overflow

But the Lord can't make you burn

Burn on, big river, burn on

-"Burn On" by Randy Newman

On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River, which flows through the city of Cleveland in northeastern Ohio, caught fire. A spark from a passing rail car ignited an oil slick on the surface of the water. The fire burned on the river for hours, destroyed the railroad bridge, and caused approximately $50,000 of damage. The incident made national news.

Sadly, this was not the first time the Cuyahoga River had caught fire. Incredibly, this 1969 incident was at least the thirteenth fire on the heavily polluted river, with the first reported occurrence in 1868. A 1952 fire had caused more than $1 million in damage. Decades and decades of unchecked and unregulated industrial activity in the rust-belt city of Cleveland had taken its toll...the river was extremely toxic and polluted. Large quantities of oil would float in slicks on the surface of the water, sometimes several inches thick. Debris and trash would pile up in these slicks. The color of the water would change from gray-brown to rusty brown as the river flowed downstream. By 1969, the river from Akron to its mouth at Lake Erie was completely devoid of fish. Cleveland was branded with a pejorative nickname: "The Mistake by the Lake." ...

The 1969 fire was a wake-up call. Something needed to be done. Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes rallied voters to pass a $100 million-bond to rehabilitate the river. Popular support and awareness of environmental issues began to grow. Pollution-curbing measures passed Congress: the Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency were created to help limit pollution and enforce regulations. A portion of the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland and Akron was designated as a National Recreation Area in 1972. In 2000, the park was redesignated as Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio's first (and only) National Park.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park has been a great environmental success story. The water quality has improved immensely, and aquatic life has returned to the river. It is now one of the cleanest urban rivers in the country. The National Park seemlessly blends with the urban surroundings to create serene and beautiful scenery. It's a pleasant greenspace full of hiking opportunities and historical buildings.

As the river has improved, the city of Cleveland itself has improved as well. A diversified economy and growing tourism at the city's great museums has boosted the downtown area. The days of Cleveland's urban blight are a thing of the past. The irony and biting satire of Randy Newman's song "Burn On" might be lost on modern listeners. 😄 Even the woeful Cleveland Browns have been playing good football as of late. 😉 The "Mistake by the Lake" has become "Believe-land"

Tara's friends live in a high-rise apartment building on Lake Erie. We visited them and had dinner on the roof of the building. We had great views of downtown and the lake as the sun went down.

Our first stop was the centerpiece of the Park, and probably the Park's most popular feature. Brandywine Falls.

The falls cascades 65-feet down into a wooded gorge. There is a short boardwalk hike from the parking lot to the falls, but go ahead and do the full loop of the upper and lower boardwalk...it's only a little over a mile-and-a-half.

ruins of a mill near the Falls.

Another popular hike is the Ledges. I think it was Tara's favorite (she took a lot of pictures) 😁 You wind your way through a forest full of moss-covered boulders and trees with gnarled and twisted roots. It was like something out of Lord of the Rings. The full loop-trail is 1.8 miles.

Another great activity is to ride bikes along the Towpath Trail. The Towpath Trail runs along the Cuyahoga River through the center of the park and served as the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath in the 19th century. We rented bikes from Century Cycles in the small town of Peninsula (which is inside Park boundaries). The entire trail runs 87 miles (20 of which are inside the Park). It was a blast! We rode down to the Beaver Marsh, and then to the Boston Mill Visitor Center. In all, we probably went a little over 10+ miles. I highly recommend doing this.

the depot in Peninsula. This is where you can board the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and take a scenic trip on the rails through the Park. Unfortunately, the trains weren't running on our visit due to the pandemic. We'll have to try it next time.

Boston Mill Visitor Center

I loved this old gas station

enjoying Ohio's favorite snack, the Buckeye (a peanut-butter ball dipped in chocolate)

Tara standing along the ruins of the Ohio & Erie Canal. Upon its completion in 1832, the Ohio & Erie Canal ran 308 miles from Portsmouth, Ohio (on the Ohio River, which forms the southern border of the state) all the way up to Cleveland. The canal experienced heavy flooding in 1913 and was subsequently abandoned.