Cuyahoga Valley

Cuyahoga Valley sits along the winding Cuyahoga River almost exactly between Cleveland and Akron, close enough that many visitors arrive on a whim rather than a planned pilgrimage, and became a full national park only in 2000 after decades as a national recreation area. The name Cuyahoga, from an Indigenous word usually translated as crooked river, describes the waterway that once famously caught fire in 1969, a pollution disaster that helped spark the modern environmental movement and, eventually, the river's recovery.

Brandywine Falls, a 65-foot cascade reached by an easy boardwalk, is the park's most photographed spot, but the 20-mile Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is arguably its backbone, following the historic canal route past locks, wetlands, and the occasional passing scenic railroad. The Ledges Trail, with sandstone cliffs and narrow passages between boulders, feels almost like a different park entirely from the flat towpath a few miles away.

Come for how easy this is to reach. Stay for the fact that it doesn't feel like a park squeezed between two metro areas at all. Read the story, trust the live data above for what is open today, and when you leave, collect the stamp.