A national park you can reach by city bus

National parks are usually a drive. Cuyahoga Valley is a short distance from
the urban areas of Cleveland and Akron, and once you are inside it seems
worlds away — a refuge for native plants and wildlife where the winding
Cuyahoga River gives way to deep forests, rolling hills and open farmland.

The spine of it is the Towpath Trail, which follows the historic route of
the Ohio & Erie Canal. Walking or riding it is following a
nineteenth-century freight corridor, which is why the trail runs so straight
and so level through country that does neither.

Getting there without a car

This is the part that distinguishes the park. It is easily reached by car from
every direction, and a good place to start is the **Boston Mill Visitor
Center, 6947 Riverview Road, Peninsula, OH 44264** — but it is also reachable
by almost every other means:

A national park served by four city bus routes is a genuinely unusual thing.

What there is to do

The activity list leans cultural in a way most parks' do not: **arts and
culture, craft demonstrations, cultural demonstrations and live music**,
alongside **biking and mountain biking, fishing, food, picnicking, hands-on
programmes, citizen science and hiking**.

The weather, season by season

The autumn line is the one to plan around, in both directions: mid-October is
the best week to come and the busiest.

Location: National Park, Ohio. Source: U.S. National Park Service.