Cuyahoga Valley: A Perfect Midwest Weekend
One of the things we love most about this whole quest is discovering parks that are surprisingly close to home. Olympic and Haleakala require flights, extensive planning, and at least a week of vacation time. But some parks are perfect for a quick weekend. Pack up Friday after work/school, drive a few hours, and you're there.
That's exactly what we found at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. And here's the thing: Amanda and I both grew up in Ohio and had never been. A national park in our home state that we somehow managed to completely overlook for the first thirty-some years of our lives. Underrated doesn't begin to cover it.
Located between Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley sits less than four hours from Northern Indiana. In late August, we did exactly that: wrapped up a normal Friday, loaded up the car, and headed east for a weekend of waterfalls, biking, train rides, ice cream, and Junior Ranger badges.
Friday: Just Get There
The main focus for Friday was to make the four-hour drive east and be ready have a full day at the park on Saturday. Sometimes the best family adventures start with nothing more than a full tank of gas and the anticipation of what's waiting the next day.
Saturday: Chasing Waterfalls and Sing-alongs
We kicked off our first full day with breakfast before heading to one of the most unexpected landscapes in the park: the Ledges Trail.
The trail winds through massive sandstone formations that feel completely out of place in Ohio. The kids immediately started climbing, squeezing through rock passages, and peeking into crevices that looked like something out of a fantasy movie. We went clockwise and crossed over Ledges Road toward the overlook. The overlook offers sweeping views across the forested valley. After the overlook, we walked along the sandstone cliff face covering about three-quarters of the trail, but we did miss some of the iconic spots like the stairs. Something for next time, and I am guessing there will be a next time.
From there, we headed to the Boston Mill Visitor Center, which does a great job introducing visitors to the park's history and its unique identity as a national park surrounded by urban development. We were able to get everyone’s passport book stamped and pick up Junior Ranger badge books. Plus the Visitor Center has a great gift shop! One of the highlights of the Junior Ranger book was a quest: essentially a treasure hunt to find a hidden stamp box somewhere in the surrounding area. It took us about 35 minutes and had the kids exploring the area. Well worth it. Along the way, we popped into Boston Store to grab snacks and picked up Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream because, apparently, our family's policy is ice cream whenever the opportunity presents itself.
We also caught a ranger talk covering the park's history: glaciers, canals, and how this stretch of Ohio became what it is today. We try to catch a ranger talk at every park we visit. Their passion is contagious, and you almost always walk away knowing something you didn't before.
ur next stop was the Canal Exploration Center, and it's worth carving out time here. The building was once a canal-side tavern sitting at Lock 38 on the Ohio and Erie Canal. When the canal was completed in 1832, it changed everything. Before it existed, crossing Ohio by horse-drawn carriage took weeks. A canal boat made the same journey in four days and could carry far more cargo: grain, iron ore, coal, pork, and much more. The exhibits inside are interactive and genuinely engaging for kids and adults alike. Once you understand that locks were needed just to stair-step boats from Lake Erie up to Akron, you see the park's landscape differently. The Towpath Trail gets its name from where the donkeys actually walked, pulling those boats through the valley. The stone lock structures you pass on the trail aren't just ruins. They were the interstate highway system of their era. We're glad we stopped here before hitting the Towpath Trail the next day.
Then we did something you might not expect to do on a national park trip: we caught a sing-along showing of KPop Demon Hunters. One of the quirks of Cuyahoga Valley is that it sits inside an urban area, which means you're never far from civilization. We took full advantage of that and popped out of the park to see the special screening of the KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along. The kids love this movie, and this turned out to be a perfect way to recharge after a day of exploring.
After the movie, we made our way to Brandywine Falls. If you're only visiting one waterfall in the park, this is the one. A 60-foot drop accessible via a boardwalk and observation deck (make sure to explore both viewing platforms), it's easy enough for any age and impressive enough to stop everyone mid-conversation. Watching the water tumble through the gorge below was a perfect way to end the day.
Dinner was at Creekside Restaurant, a relaxing meal after a lot of miles on our feet.
Sunday: All Aboard the Best Sunday Ever
Not every national park lets you load your bikes onto a scenic railroad, ride through the valley, and then spend the day pedaling back along an incredible trail. But Cuyahoga Valley isn't every national park.
After breakfast, we headed to the Peninsula Depot, rented bikes and kid trailers from Eddy's Bike Shop around 9:15 AM, loaded everything onto the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, and rode north to the Botzum Station. Since we were just riding the train one way as part of their Explorer Program, it was just $10 per person. When we got off at Botzum Station, the plan was simple: spend the day pedaling back to Peninsula on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail. If you visit Cuyahoga Valley, carve out a full day and do it exactly like this. You won't regret it.
The Towpath Trail is mostly flat and follows the route of the historic canal, which makes it perfect for families. Our first stop was at Beaver Marsh, one of the park's most popular wildlife viewing areas. The boardwalk through the wetlands gives you a completely different perspective on the park than the forests and waterfalls from the day before. We didn't spot any beavers, but the marsh was full of blue herons, various birds, turtles, and a massive prehistoric-looking snapping turtle.
Mid-ride, we pulled off at Szalay's Farm and Market for lunch, and this place deserves a stop. A sweet corn farm in the Valley since 1931, it sits right along the Towpath Trail like an oasis. The corn on the cob is buttery, fresh, and incredible. The fresh-squeezed lemonade is the kind you need after a few miles in the summer sun. And per family policy, there was soft serve ice cream. There's outdoor seating on swing benches, a full farmer’s market with fresh produce, and live music. Don't skip this place. One important note: cash or check only, and they mean it. There's an ATM on site, but save yourself the line and come prepared.
Next door to Salazy’s is the Hunt House Visitor Center. It is a historic 19th-century farmhouse that features a few farm animal statues and educational exhibits on the agricultural history of the Valley. Most importantly, there is a small gift shop plus restrooms.
We got back on the trail and pedaled our way back to Peninsula. We completed the ride around 1:30 PM and returned our bikes to Eddy. After that, we drove over to the Everett Road Covered Bridge. We originally planned to see the bridge while riding bikes, but we missed the turnoff somewhere along the way. It’s worth a visit.
Before heading home, we returned to the Boston Mills Visitor Center so the girls could receive their Junior Ranger badges. This has become one of our favorite traditions at every national park we visit. The kids learn more about the park, they get a keepsake they'll carry for years, and they enjoy the activities.
Badges earned. One thing left to do. Ice cream at Country Maid before the drive home.
As we headed west toward home, we kept talking about everything we had managed to pack into a single weekend. Waterfalls. Sandstone formations. A scenic railroad. Biking a historic canal trail. Wildlife. A covered bridge. Junior Ranger badges. A sing-along movie. Plus all the ice cream!
Cuyahoga Valley may not have the dramatic landscapes of some of America's most famous national parks. But that's part of its charm. It's accessible, endlessly family-friendly, and packed with enough variety for our family across an entire weekend. For Midwest families especially, it's proof that you don't have to cross the country to find something worth exploring. Sometimes the best trips are the ones hiding right in your backyard.
