A Real Gem Awaits You in Cuyahoga Valley National

I highly recommend both Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Hale Farm and Village. I also recommend trying at least one of the many unique restaurants in the area. See the following journal entries for more information. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure is also located in this area. See my journal on Aurora, Ohio for complete details on Six Flags. Also, this area is less than 30 miles from Cleveland.

Quick Tips:

Request maps and other information in advance. See www.nps.gov for more information. That way, you can decide what you want to do and map out your route before you arrive. Or, you can follow the route that I took as described in the following journals.

If you are just passing through and don’t have a lot of time to spend in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I recommend that you at least see The Ledges, Brandywine Falls, and Tinkers Creek Gorge.

Best Way To Get Around:

The most efficient way to travel in this area is by car. You can also bike, hike, or take a train ride through the park. Bikes can be rented in the town of Peninsula. There is a train station there as well. Be sure to park the car and explore some of the park by foot. I highly recommend parking at the Ira Trailhead on the towpath trail, then exploring the beaver marsh area. See the following journal entries for more information on this hike.

I chose to stay at the Microtel Inn in Streetsboro, Ohio, because I was able to get an excellent Internet rate there-—$42/night, including continental breakfast. The Microtel proved to be a safe, quiet hotel in a nice, safe area. The location was also convenient—-less than ten minutes to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. To get to the national park from the Microtel, exit in back of hotel onto Route 303, and take it west through the quaint village of Hudson to the Happy Days Visitor Center.

The Microtel is also located with walking distance of shopping (Lowes, Wal-Mart, grocery stores, etc.) and restaurants (Perkins, Denny’s, Arby’s, McDonald’s, Steak ‘n Shake, Rockne’s Pub, etc.) The Microtel is also conveniently located near Six Flags (see my Aurora, OH journal.)

The Microtel has clean rooms, accessible by indoor corridors. Nevertheless, we had two problems during our stay there. On the day of our arrival, we checked in around 11:15am, went to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, came back to our hotel and our key cards would not work. In one place in the computer they had us checking out that day instead of the next day. So, our key cards needed to be reactivated before they would work. Later that evening, we found out our heat did not work. So, we had to switch rooms late at night. Luckily for us, there was a vacant room a few doors down from our original room. In both instances, the staff was very friendly, apologetic, and helpful.

The Microtel in Streetsboro also features an indoor pool and exercise room with two treadmills and a bike. The pool is a good size. In addition, the free continental breakfast is better than what you get at most hotels. There were bagels, muffins, danishes, donuts, coffee, tea, and three different kinds of juices.

The rooms at the Microtel are slightly smaller that the average motel room. There is no table, but there is a window seat. This property is similar to other Microtels I’ve stayed in. All Microtels are newer, attractive, and well-maintained properties.

The Winking Lizard Tavern is located in an historic building in the quaint town of Peninsula. Only a couple of blocks in each direction, Peninsula is surrounded by Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This makes stopping at the Winking Lizard Tavern a good idea if you are hiking, biking, or touring the park, and want to eat without venturing too far away.

We ate a late lunch at the Winking Lizard Tavern before heading back to Pittsburgh. As it was a Saturday during the fall, we noticed that the Winking Lizard is popular with Ohio State fans. There were many TVs scattered about, all showing the Ohio State game. Luckily, since we’re not Ohio State fans, we were seated in a quiet, enclosed porch area.

The atmosphere at the Winking Lizard is nice and yet it’s casual. It’s also a place where you can bring your family. Like Rockne’s Pub, the Winking Lizard is a chain of restaurants located in the Cleveland/Akron area.

The menu at the Winking Lizard Tavern features salads, burgers, pizza, wings, sandwiches, wraps, and "reptizers." The prices are very reasonable. We enjoyed the potato skins appetizer, bayou burger platter, grilled turkey sandwich platter, and lemonade for $19.94 including tax. The food was very good and even though it was many hours since we had eaten breakfast, we were not able to finish the huge portions.

Rockne’s Pub is part of a restaurant chain in the Cleveland/Akron area. It is what I would consider to be an upscale sports bar, but yet it is a casual place where you can take the family.

The large menu at Rockne’s features soup, chili, munchies, munchies meals (which also include fries), salads, sandwiches, burgers, dinner platters, and pasta skillets. You may also enjoy draft and bottled beers, wine, or cocktails with your meal.

The prices are reasonable at Rockne’s. Munchies meals range from about $6.99 to $8.99. Salads range from $4.99 for a garden salad to $8.99 for the steak salad. All sandwiches were priced around $6 and include either soup, fries, or another side. Dinner platters cost around $7, and pasta skillets are around $7 to $8. If you choose the fries with your platter, you will be presented with a mountain of fries over your sandwich, burger, or whatever. No matter how hungry you are you will never be able to eat all the fries! So, I recommend ordering just one platter and sharing the fries. There will be plenty of fries to feed two, and you will save a few bucks.

Even though we were pretty full from our dinner, my husband and I saved just enough room to share a dessert, which consisted of a fudge brownie topped with vanilla ice cream. It was well worth the splurge!

Hale Farm and Village is operated by the Western Reserve Historical Society, but is located just a few minutes by car from Cuyahoga Valley National Park. There is an admission charge, but it is well worth it. This is an excellent place to take school-age children.

The story of Hale Farm began in 1810, when Jonathan Hale, a farmer from Connecticut, settled in the Cuyahoga Valley with his family. He later built the three-story red brick home that still stands there today. This home is currently under restoration, but it can be toured at set times throughout the day. Tours are included in the admission price, but you must obtain tickets in advance at the visitor center.

Hale Farm and Village is a multifaceted attraction. In addition to touring the Hale House, you can see skilled artisans and tradesmen demonstrate the industrial and domestic crafts of the period. These include: a blacksmith, potter, glassblower, weaver, and candle maker. There is also a demonstration of early 19th-century cooking.

In the Wheatfield Village section of Hale Farm and Village, the year is 1848. Each building houses characters that act and dress in period. Characters respond to you just as a person from 1848 would. This is a great way to see how people lived during that time. Buildings in Wheatfield Village include: several houses, a schoolhouse, meetinghouse, doctors office, law office, and barn, all centered on the town green. These structures date back to that period and were moved from various locations in Northeast Ohio.

Different houses are set up for the socioeconomic background of the family that would have occupied them. Many different kinds of architecture are represented: saltbox style, Greek revival, an 1805 log structure, and Federal style. There is also a carriage barn with wagons and carriages from this period. Due to the rural location of Hale Farm and Village, you feel as if you’ve been transported to the 19th century because there is nothing else around to remind you of the 21st century.

There is also a brief film in the visitor center. The visitor center also houses a restaurant and museum shop. We checked out the menu at the restaurant, but did not eat there as the menu only contains a few different kinds of sandwiches. However, we did check out the museum shop, where you can buy items made on site such as pottery, baskets, and glass.

Hale Farm would not be a good attraction to visit on a very rainy day. While most of the attractions are in buildings, you have to walk outside to get from building to building. There is a fair amount of walking involved, but it is mostly level.

If you plan on visiting Hale Farm, call for hours first, as hours vary. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $7 for ages 3 through 12. We were able to save and additional $1 per person by showing our AAA card.

Cuyahoga Valley was made a National Park (from a National Recreation Area) in October 2000. I understand that it didn’t get much press due to the presidential election that year. Cuyahoga Valley National Park combines both scenic beauty and history.

The centerpieces of Cuyahoga Valley National Park are The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath trail and the Cuyahoga River. The former was opened in 1827 between Cleveland and Akron and replaced the latter as the primary transportation artery. However, by the 1860s, railroads replaced the canal as the major route for commerce, industry, and travel. Today, about 20 miles of the Towpath trail are preserved within the park. This trail is popular with hikers and bikers, and is a great place to view the scenic beauty and nature of the park.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park contains lots of picnic areas. There are also several golf courses, both public and private, located in the areas that border the park. Unfortunately, swimming and other water sports are not recommended due to poor water quality in the Cuyahoga River. On the other hand, there are many winter sports available, such as cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, sledding/tobogganing, snoeshoeing, and ice-skating.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is more difficult to navigate than other national parks we’ve been to. Most other parks have loop roads, while Cuyahoga Valley does not. Many of the roads you need to take to get around the park are actually outside the park in suburban Cleveland. Keep in mind, that at rush hour on Friday, we got into traffic on some of these streets.

There is no admission fee at Cuyahoga Valley National Park! This is probably because there are so many different entrances to the park. There are several visitor centers: Happy Days, Canal, Hunt Farm, and Boston Store. Each offers different displays and information about the trails in that area of park.

After stopping at the Happy Days Visitor Center, we found out that we could hike to an area known as The Ledges or we could drive to The Ledges parking lot and take a short walk to the overlook. There was a lot we wanted to see and do that day, so we decided to drive to The Ledges. To get there from the Happy Days Visitor Center, take Route 303 East, turn right onto Akron Cleveland Road, then turn right onto Kendall Park Road, and then you’ll see a sign for The Ledges. This overlook is not to be missed, especially if you visit the park in the fall as we did.

From The Ledges, it is just a short drive down the street to Kendall Lake. We enjoyed walking around the lake, which was surrounded by trees with changing leaves. Other than a few people fishing, we had the lake all to ourselves.

From Kendall Lake, we turned left onto Truxell Road, right on Akron Peninsula Road, left on Route 303, right on Riverview Road, then right onto Boston Mills Road, to Boston Store. We enjoyed viewing the boat-building exhibit inside this 1836 structure and walking on the Canal Towpath along the Cuyahoga River.

From the Boston Store, we drove to Brandywine Falls, another must-see area in the fall. (Turn right onto Boston Mills Road to Hines Hill Road, then left on Brandywine Road.) There are three overlook areas, one of which is handicap accessible.

From Brandywine Falls, we took Brandywine Road to left on Aurora Road, right on Boyden Road, left on Valley View Road, then right on Canal Road to Canal Visitor Center, which features displays as well as the only remaining operating lock on the canal.

From the Canal Visitor Center, we went right onto Canal Road, left on Tinkers Creek Road, right on Dunham Road, then left on Gorge Parkway to Tinkers Creek Gorge Overlook, which provides more beautiful views.

From Tinkers Creek Gorge, we traced our steps back to make a left on Canal Road, to Chaffee Road, to Chippewa Road, to Riverview Road. We followed Riverview Road south until Everett Road. The Everett Road covered bridge is no longer in use, so you can walk through it. There is also an observation area from which you can photograph the bridge.

From here, we returned to Riverview Road and headed south to the Ira Trailhead on the towpath trail. From the trailhead, it is an easy walk to Beaver Marsh. Plan to arrive at Beaver Marsh at dusk. That way, you’ll be more likely to see some activity. We saw some animals, we weren’t sure whether they were beavers or muskrats, since they look similar and we just got a quick look. We also saw a blue heron, ducks, and Canadian geese in this area.

Our next day took us to the Hunt Farm Visitor Center, where there are a couple of displays pertaining to farming in this area in the 1800s.