Way back in July, Lee and I marked off another National Park from the list.  When planning our trip to Ohio for Lani and Kyle's wedding, we realized that there was a National Park in Ohio.  We figured we didn't know when we'd be back to Ohio - so we took advantage of being there and extended our trip a couple of days.  Within minutes of "arriving" at the park, we were already grateful that this park was an add-on to the weekend, and not the sole reason for our trip to Ohio.....

I don't know about you, but most every other National Park we've visited has an entry/exit station and an entrance fee.  Not Cuyahoga National Park.  Cuyahoga National Park is new to the park circuit (2000) and is a collection of what was previously state parks or protected territory in Ohio.  Thus the "park" starts and stops along the Cuyahoga River Valley and freeways and highways run overhead in several points.  Restaurants, hotels, homes, EVERYTHING you can imagine can be found within park borders.  We found this all a little unusual - you can't really tell where the park boundaries pick up or leave off....

Our first stop was the ranger station where we could get tips on how we should spend our Monday afternoon/evening.  The park ranger scratched his head, told us about ONE short little hike and highly recommended the Beaver Marshes at sunset.  He said that was about it for Cuyahoga.  So, off we went to "The Ledges" for a little hike.  The Ledges had some cool rock formations - my favorite was one the trail that reminded me of a big gorilla!

From there we decided we best check in at the bed and breakfast we had reserved.  This bed and breakfast came pretty highly rated on TripAdvisor, and we can't quite figure out why!  It is "right in the park" and next to a pretty set of falls that the B&B is named after "Brandywine Falls".  But as friendly as the couple is, they are incredible protective of their home and highly judgmental.  The older gentleman refused to let us carry our own luggage in for fear we would damage his walls - in fact all luggage had to be protected in a thick, woolly bag before being carried up the stairs (by him).  Breakfast is a "family" meal and all guests eat together around the table with the owners.  The breakfast was delicious, but ran quite long and the conversation was painful.  Any efforts on our part to communicate with the other family visiting were stifled by the owners.  And, we certainly got a talking to from the gentleman who was convinced Cuyahoga National Park is the 6th most visited National park in the system and one of traveler's favorites - ranking up there wit Yosemite and Yellowstone.  We figure he doesn't get out much....

We did quite enjoy the actual falls and we LOVED sunset at the Beaver Marshes.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much in the way of beavers (got a tiny glimpse of one) - but the big ol' frogs, turtles, ducks, deer and herons were stunning.  The marshes were definitely the highlight of the trip for us.

After "family breakfast" on that Tuesday morning we packed up and hit the road, traveling past covered bridges (which reminded me of Indiana) and the Ohio/Erie Canal. That, was actually pretty cool.  We stopped at a visitor center to learn about the locks for the canals and even got a water demonstration.  It was fun to be in part of the country that is a little more rich in history than the West.

We said a few times that Cuyahoga National Park could be quite gorgeous in the fall, or even in the spring when the falls have a little more water.  We enjoyed our time there - but we're really glad we hadn't planned on a longer stay AND that this was just a perk of the wedding weekend!