Even though we are on our way home we still have quite a few stops including more national parks. Our trip through Ohio brought us to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stayed at the Streetsboro KOA near Cleveland. We really enjoyed our stay here. Our site was right by the pond, they had two play grounds including a jump pad, as well as a pool everyone enjoyed. They also had a nice bathhouse and large showers. The sky was a bit smoky from the west coast fires. Luckily this only lasted a day and blew out quickly.
We spent our first day in Cuyahoga hiking 4 different areas. Each one was very unique, which made it all much more interesting and easy to push through the 7 miles we ended up hiking. Our first stop after getting some advice from a park ranger was Brandywine Falls Gorge Loop. This was an easy route, some of it on boardwalks some over dirt, roots, and rocks. We found the Brandywine Falls pretty cool with its slate ledges which look like steps leading down to the creek below. We got views from both the lower and upper boardwalks before continuing around the rest of the loop. The kids loved the slat rocks along the creek since they were perfectly flat and amazing skipping rocks.
Our second stop was the Station Road Bridge and Lock 36. The iron bridge was built in 1882 and had just undergone new paint and timber’s. We crossed the bridge enjoying the views of the river as we walked the Towpath trail to the remains of Lock 36. Running next to the Cuyahoga in river was a canal used to move goods from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. Once the train was built through the area the canal became obsolete. The Towpath, where the mules pulled the ships through the canal, are now beautiful walking paths.
We made our way back to the visitor center for the kids to get their badges before continuing to the Ledges Trail. We were not sure what to expect since it is not simple to find information on the trails here, or at least there are not a lot of pictures on the park sites. We started the hike through some nice forested area and soon discovered the ledges. Large cliffs we walked over and then down below. The layers made them fascinating to look at. Each one was different and it seemed as we walked each area was layered uniquely. The woods, springs, and ledges made for a gorgeous hike that kept us interested the entire way.
Our last stop of the day was Beaver Marsh. Plans to build a parking lot in the area were abandoned when a family of beavers continued to make a dam in the area and flood it. As they were trying to renew the once trashed area it was decided to leave it to the beavers. The result was a marsh which then attracted many other birds, mammals, and reptiles. What once was destroyed by humans is now flourishing with animals. We enjoyed seeing the great blue herons, ducks, turtles, and fish. Unfortunately it was not a good time of the day to see the otters or beavers. We returned to camp to enjoy our evening.
Planes, cars, RV’s, busses, subways, and boats have filled our summer after Cuyahoga trains are now a part of the list. We were up early to catch a train through the park on our second day at Cuyahoga. It is the only national park with a train we could not pass up the opportunity to add another form of transportation to our summer trip. We all enjoyed the round trip from Rockside Station to Akron and back. On the way we saw small towns, farms, neighborhoods, marshes, and lots of forests. It was a 3hour round trip and we were done by lunch ready to bid farewell to Cuyahoga and continue on our way west.
Our 6S Full Life 