Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Getting there
Wedged between two cities, there are great airport options if you’re flying to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park:
- Akron Fulton International Airport (AKC) – 22 miles / 28 minutes to the park
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) – 25 miles / 30 minutes to the park
A day at Cuyahoga Valley
My nephew (age 14) and I visited this great park on a Saturday in March. A typical winter day in the Midwest – it was chilly and overcast. Our original itinerary included breakfast in the Dome Car of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Rail. Sadly, it was canceled as the park worked on erosion issues at that point in time. As bummed as we were, it just gave us more time to hike!
So, instead, we started our morning with breakfast at Rowley Inn and then made our way to the park. Our first hike of the morning was the Brandywine Falls Loop. This is a great spot if you don’t like to hike – you can take the stairs down from the parking lot to view the falls. Being that this was a waterfall trail and it was winter, the trail was muddy like we expected. But nothing that our sneakers/hiking shoes couldn’t handle. The falls were beautiful and walking through the woods was very peaceful on such a quiet Saturday.
Alltrails stats on Brandywine Falls: Length – 2.6 mi; Elevation Gain – 390 ft; Route Type – Loop; Difficulty – Easy
After Brandywine Falls, we ventured over to the Blue Hen Falls trailhead (right by one of the Visitor Centers). This hike had a steep incline at the beginning, a road to be crossed, and then a lot of stairs to go down to get to the falls. Again, the falls were absolutely beautiful and we were two of very few people on the trail that day.
Alltrails stats on Blue Hen Falls: Length – 2.5 mi; Elevation Gain – 498 ft; Route Type – Out & Back; Difficulty – Moderate
When we made it back down to the parking lot, we decided to check in at the Visitor Center for recommendations. The ranger suggested that we go see the nesting blue herons and then do the Ledges hike.
The amount of blue herons that we saw in the trees was unreal! We thought the ranger meant a nest or two but there were hundreds of herons! Definitely a cool sight to see.
After that, we drove over to the Ledges trailhead. We love waterfalls but this ended up being our favorite hike of the day! The rock formations were gorgeous and we were surprised around every corner.
Alltrails stats on Ledges:
- Ledges Trail Loop via Haskell Run: Length – 2.5 mi; Elevation Gain – 285 ft; Route Type – Loop; Difficulty – Moderate
- Ledges Trail and Pine Grove: Length – 3.6 mi; Elevation Gain – 275 ft; Route Type – Loop; Difficulty – Moderate
After logging 7 miles of hiking in a day, we ended our visit by shopping at Peninsula Village. Our favorite store was Trail Mix!
Then it was back to our Cleveland Airbnb and dinner at Corner 11.
