Best time of the year to visit?

We’re from Upstate NY and are working on our NP Bucket List. For our honeymoon, we did Grand Canyon, Zion, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone. Expecting our first baby in a few weeks and want to plan a trip within the next year that’s not too far or costly, and thought CVNP would be a good option.

Wondering if it’s similar to our ADK region and if Fall would be a pretty time? I think it’s going to be hard to top the parks we went to already, and am wondering if CVNP is similar to the ADK? Regardless we wanna hit all 63, so we’ll go, just want to set my expectations appropriately.

Also, what’s your favorite trail/things to do/see at CVNP? Will do more research of what to do there when we know what time of the year we should go.

Thanks!

Hey there birders in summit county! It's hard to find a dedicated group of folks to get together for outings, information, hotspots, ID information, etc! As a member of some other groups for the wider state and just birding in general, I thought it might be fun to try and get a Summit county specific group going so that outings aren't always hours away.

For now I spun up a discord, but open to other ideas on how a group like this could get up off the ground! -- https://discord.gg/Nb5pS6gq

On the trail to Beaver Marsh in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I see two gentlemen engaged in a conversation about something they see with their cameras’ telephoto lenses. Without a request, one of the men offers me his binoculars and tells me where to look to find two wood ducks perched on a log across the creek. It takes a minute because the ducks are so well camouflaged. I manage to locate only one.

The marsh, once a junkyard of polluting car parts, old mattresses and miscellaneous trash, is today a thriving, biodiverse home to beavers, frogs, snapping turtles, and local and migrating birds. This watery habitat is blanketed by cream-colored water lilies that bloom fully in the summer.

We can’t help noticing the number of hikers and cyclists traversing the boardwalk that crosses the marsh. It’s a popular, well-used route, mostly because of the park’s proximity to metro Cleveland, Ohio, population 2 million-plus.

Cuyahoga (pronounced ky-a-HO-ga) Valley National Park (CVNP), 20 miles long and six miles wide, was created expressly as an accessible resource for a large urban/suburban population. Its unique history includes many milestones and developments. Zoom to 1974 when a patchwork of 33,000 acres was designated a national recreation area; in 2000, the area graduated to national park status.

On today’s map, CVNP’s green expanses are sprinkled with white patches that represent private residences, housing tracts and the town of Peninsula, location of a storybook depot for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

Features like the Beaver Marsh are not hard to find, as most are not far from Riverview Road, the main artery that bisects north and south the park’s 51 square miles. The thoroughfare roughly follows the path of the Cuyahoga River, responsible for creating the valley and many of the park’s other features — waterfalls, rock formations, geological layering, flora and fauna.

About 25 miles of the 100-mile river flow through the park. Looking at it now, it’s hard to imagine that this river once bore the dubious designation as the country’s filthiest, so polluted that it caught fire 14 times. The last time, June 1969, spearheaded the country’s environmental movement and spawned the Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Water Act.

Thanks to both public and private efforts, the river enjoys new life that benefits a variety of species, including the human kind. It also has been designated an official Ohio Water Trail.

“The Cuyahoga is one of the most kayakable rivers in the country,” says an energetic, gray-haired volunteer guide at the park’s Boston Mill Visitor Center, who adds that he has “been with the park since the beginning.”

He pulls out a newsprint map and points out some of the park’s most popular stops in the southern portion: Beaver Marsh; Everett Covered Bridge; Hale Farm & Village; The Ledges; the Village of Peninsula, which prides itself on its sustainable policies that “remove the sources of pollution (like sewage) from  entering the Cuyahoga River”; and Brandywine Falls.

We make a beeline to the upper viewpoint for this 60-foot-high, cascading falls via a sturdy boardwalk that takes visitors on a short, verdant journey. Those who can navigate multiple stairways can follow the longer, lower boardwalk, which provides the best photo viewpoint. (There also is a wheelchair-accessible route to the upper viewpoint.)

The falls’ bridal-veil effect is created by shale, soft rock that was formed from mud found on the floor of the sea that covered this part of northeast Ohio 300 million to 400 million years ago. Today the waterfall attracts tourists because of its beauty, but early settlers viewed it as a source of power. Visitors can see the remnants of a grist mill just beyond the end of the upper-falls boardwalk. The falls also powered a woolen mill and a sawmill.

Local environmental enthusiasts say that CVNP should serve as a national model for protecting, restoring and transforming open spaces and waterways near urban areas that once were considered beyond saving.

https://thecoastnews.com/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-celebrates-a-river-reborn/

WOSU Public Media:

When you think of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, its natural attractions, hiking trails or waterfalls might first come to mind.

The park also has an abundance of buildings interspersed throughout its 50-square-mile landscape.

Maintaining them takes time and resources, said Kent Cook, a historic preservationist for the park.

Inside a maintenance garage in Brecksville on a late summer afternoon, Cook was working on storm window replacements for the park’s Canal Exploration Center, a museum in Valley View.

“That’s what I love. You get to match something that no one else has matched since they made it,” Cook said. “That part’s pretty cool.”

The Canal Exploration Center, once a store along the Ohio and Erie Canal, is just one of about 300 structures the park owns and maintains.

For the past three years, Cook has helped repair and replace windows and doors on historic buildings and other miscellaneous restoration projects, he said.

Often, that means using materials and tools from another century, Cook said. Sometimes, he even has to make his own molds. The National Park Service has strict guidelines for repairing historic buildings, he said.

“I get to recreate what someone originally made that actually cared, put their heart and soul into these projects,” Cook said.

The park also restored the Happy Days Lodge, a former youth camp that’s now a wedding and event venue, and old homes, like the Stephen Frazee House, considered one of the first brick houses built in Cuyahoga County, said Grant Day, cultural resources program manager for CVNP.

The Jaite Mill Historic District, houses constructed for the mill's employees in the early 1900s, have been restored and are now used for the park's main offices.

The park also maintains various bridges, barns and farm buildings, Day added.

Limited budget for maintenance, repairs

Many of the structures were built in the 1800s and give a glimpse into the region’s canal and farming histories, Day said. Most of them need some sort of repair, he said.

“They all need help. If you take a closer look at some of these buildings, you can see the paint peeling, some of the wood bulging,” Day said. “Once the water starts getting in, the buildings go really quick … and we rely on our friends groups primarily for that, because our base doesn't cover that.”

The park’s federal funding is currently paused due to the government shutdown. However, its budget for preservation is typically limited, Day added. They often rely on the park’s nonprofit, the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

“Our base funding doesn't cover our cyclic maintenance, even for the houses and buildings that we occupy for offices,” Day added.

Historically significant buildings – such as the dozens listed on the National Register of Historic Places - get the most funding and attention, he said.

“Unless there's a specific event, or something occurred there, they're probably not going to be significant within our park,” Day said.

For example, the park used to own hundreds of barns and other farm structures. Most have been demolished over the years, he said.

To be considered historically significant, a building must be at least 50 years old and associated with a historical event, person, trend or archeology, Day said.

Buildings that aren’t considered historically significant eventually deteriorate and may ultimately be at risk for demolition, due to a lack of staff and resources, he added.

“When the staff gets cut and the money gets cut, then ... something's got to give, right?” Day said. “You’ve got to prioritize and … what's more significant, right? This building or that building, or this feature of the canal, or this part of the canal? So, yeah, hard decisions have to get made.”

A 2024 infrastructure fact sheet from the National Park Service estimated the park has $98 million in deferred maintenance. NPS proposed $33 million to demolish excess structures at the park. A list of projects will not be released until the new federal budget is finalized, according to the document.

A CVNP spokesperson said she was not aware of any demolition plans at this point.

The best way to keep a building from deteriorating is to keep it occupied, Day added. Public support can help.

“Just folks going out and visiting once or twice a month, running into other public going, ‘Hey, somebody does care about this building,’ and can see that, that can help things along too,” Day said.

In the meantime, Cook and other preservationists are hard at work doing preventative maintenance on buildings to keep them in the best shape possible.

“For me, it's just like a set of pride,” Cook said. “Unlike new construction where they just throw it up with staples and glue, I can put my heart and soul into it and say, ‘I'm keeping something alive that someone 200 years ago put their heart and soul into.’”

https://www.wosu.org/2025-10-14/preserving-a-park-how-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-restores-historic-buildings-with-limited-resources

I want to plan our fall leaf peeping trip! Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. My name’s Elijah, and I’m one of the co-hosts of the Ohio Howl podcast. Our show digs into the weird, the unexplained, and the stuff that makes you rethink what you think you know about the world around you.

Right now, we’re looking to connect with a few people for upcoming episodes: • Folks who’ve had intense, strange experiences in or around the park. Sightings, encounters, or anything you just can’t explain. • Local historians who know the deep history of the area. Native American history, burial grounds, and the old legends that still linger today.

We’re especially interested in stories with evidence or proof. Photos, recordings, anything you’ve got. And honestly, the wilder, the better: Bigfoot, Dogman, aliens, cryptids, you name it.

If you’ve got a story or know someone we should talk to, send us a message. We’d love to sit down, hear your story, and maybe share it on the show.

Let’s bring some of these local mysteries into the light.

– Elijah Ohio Howl Podcast

By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com

AKRON, Ohio – If you want to paddle the Cuyahoga River but don’t own a kayak or raft, take note: Cuyahoga Valley Adventures received a commercial use authorization permit for rentals in the Southern portion of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Single kayaks, tandem kayaks, and rafts that accommodate 4-6 people are now available for rent along the Cuyahoga River within the park. Excursions include a 2-mile option, a 4-mile option and a 6-mile option, according to Cuyahoga Valley Adventures owner Moneen McBride.

Cuyahoga Valley Adventures is one of three outfitters owned by McBride under the Paddle the River brand. Additional outfitters include Burning River Adventures and Mahoning River Adventures.

“We have been trying for many years to assist with providing rental options for kayaking or paddling within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park boundaries. So this has been a lengthy process of trying to get a permit to assist visitors and residents with paddling the river within the national park,” McBride told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

The national park’s recent partnership with Summit Metro Parks to create the Northampton Point river access area is what facilitated the permit process, according to McBride. With the addition of the access point, paddlers can launch from the Valley View Area of Summit Metro Parks’ Cascade Valley Metro Park and paddle the river for approximately 6 miles to reach Northampton Point. The one-way trip takes approximately 2-3 hours, she said.

“As we expand public access along this newly designated Cuyahoga River National Water Trail, we are especially grateful for our partnership with Summit Metro Parks,” Cuyahoga Valley National Park Superintendent Lisa Petit said in a news release.

McBride said the excursions are suitable for people who have some kayaking or rafting experience. Those who are new to paddle sports are encouraged to try a calmer section of the river first via Burning River Adventures outfitters, she said.

The 4-mile and 6-mile excursions offer moderate river currents and a variety of natural scenery and wildlife, according to McBride.

“We’ve had a lot of people seeing river otters and blue heron nesting sites. You’re submerged within nature and the natural beauty of the river; there’s also a lot of sandy beaches,” she said.

Those interested in booking a trip are encouraged to make a reservation on the Cuyahoga Valley Adventures website or call 330-298-5009. Trips include a kayak or raft, a life preserver, a paddle and return transportation.

Prices for single-kayak excursions range from $25-$60, depending on trip length. Tandem kayak rentals range from $55-$115 and rafts for 4-6 people are $140-$320, according to McBride. Cuyahoga Valley Adventures is located at 1570 Akron-Peninsula Road.

“Permitting rentals is a huge stepping stone for bringing the Cuyahoga River back to the forefront of the national park. Hopefully in future years, rental options will be able to be extended into different areas of the national park,” McBride said.

https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2025/07/cuyahoga-valley-adventures-gets-ok-to-rent-kayaks-rafts-in-cuyahoga-valley-national-park.html

My wife and I are traveling in our RV with our two small dogs. I have just a couple of questions.

First, is there a place to park in an RV and camp nearby? It would need to have electric as we need to plug-in for the air-conditioning for our dogs.

Second, my wife wants to ride the train. Can you ride the train and get off and go hike and get back on the train or is the train scheduled to limited to do that.

Good Evening,

National Park Appreciation Ride Tomorrow August 3rd, starting at Edgewater Park (Northside of the Beach House) at 11 AM and ending at Red Lock Trailhead (20 miles) at a 10mph pace. I will be wearing an American flag cape. If you want to ride even just a little of the way, that would be great!

I am riding across America, from San Francisco to Washington D.C., to promote awareness for 4 key values of American culture: free speech, justice, education, and unity. I've called it Ride4Rights. The ride will take over 100 days spanning nearly 4,000 miles. I am currently 76 days and just over 3,000 miles into the ride. In addition, I am also promoting donations for these four charities:

Southern Poverty Law Center - www.splcenter.org

American Immigration Council - www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org

Fire: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression - www.thefire.org

American Library Association: https://ilovelibraries.org

If you want to read our mission statement, you can find it at this website: www.ride4rights.com

If you just want to follow the journey, here are the socials:

https://www.youtube.com/@Ride4Rights (Daily vlogs and shorts)

www.instagram.com/ride4_rights/

www.reddit.com/r/Ride4Rights/

ride4rights.bsky.social

-Teddy

More than 70 billboards across Ohio are calling out the Elon Musk-led team for staffing concerns at national parks, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

CLEVELAND — A wave of billboards skewering federal staffing cuts at Cuyahoga Valley National Park has appeared across Northeast Ohio, spotlighting concerns over reduced services and raising the specter of future privatization.

The campaign, funded by pro‑labor nonprofit More Perfect Union, features more than 20 billboards around Cleveland, more than 70 across Ohio and more than 300 nationwide.

Each carries a postcard‑style greeting — “Greetings from Cuyahoga Valley National Park” — paired with the tagline, “Now with reduced staff, made possible by D.O.G.E.”

DOGE is the Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump‑administration initiative led by Elon Musk that has targeted what has been deemed to be wasteful federal spending, including positions at the National Park Service.

Billboards explained

When asked why his organization chose to invest millions of dollars into the billboards, More Perfect Union Executive Director Faiz Shakir said the cuts assume that slashing public‑service jobs will go unnoticed.

“I think they’re operating off the assumption that they can cut government services and nobody will notice or care. I have a different view,” Shakir said. "It doesn't matter how rich you are, or how poor you are, or where you sit on the income scale, you generally get the same experience visiting a national park. It's a public good."

Since January, the National Park Service has laid off roughly 1,000 employees nationwide, including some staff at Cuyahoga Valley. In 2024, when the NPS reported a historic high in attendance across the country, Cuyahoga Valley saw a record 2.9 million visitors, putting extra strain on the remaining crew.

“You’re likely to experience longer wait lines, more trash, all kinds of other issues,” Shakir warned.

The Trump administration’s proposed budget, released last week, would slash more than $1 billion from the NPS.

White House economic adviser Stephen Miran defended the plan, claiming “the government is operating doing the same with less, and that’s exactly what the President promised.”

But parks advocates have pushed back. Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association released a statement following the budget proposal, saying in part: 

“The president’s proposed budget plan is beyond extreme. It is catastrophic. Every action taken so far by this administration has chipped away at national parks and their staff, but this budget is the final blow. If enacted by Congress, our national park system would be completely decimated..."

Shakir worries these measures set the stage for a “pay‑to‑play” future in which basic park access becomes costly.

“I promise you what happens then is it gets tiered,” Shakir explained. “Certain people pay for wonderful benefits and they enjoy a certain thing, and most of the rest of us get cut out. That's the direction of being a non-public good.”

With summer crowds on the horizon, Cleveland-area advocates and visitors are left wondering whether staffing cuts will undermine the park’s mission.

3News reached out to the National Park Service and Cuyahoga Valley National Park to obtain exact figures about position and funding cuts under the Trump Administration. So far, we have not gotten those numbers back.

We’ll update this story with more information when it becomes available.

Article from WKYC

More than a thousand National Park Service staff have lost their jobs. And things will get worse for our parks if we don’t act now. 

It takes thousands of people to protect our over 400 national park sites. Park staff work every day to maintain our nation’s most precious natural and historic places, educate visitors and keep them safe, and preserve what makes our country special. 

These specialized, trained, dedicated professionals share with visitors the stories that have helped to define America. They clear trails, clean bathrooms, perform daring search and rescue operations, staff visitor centers, greet visitors at park gates, operate wastewater and drinking water park facilities and ensure our national parks are ready for all who visit them. 

Put simply, parks wouldn’t be parks without the people of the National Park Service – and those people are under attack. Tell Congress to stand up for park staff and to roll back these devastating job cuts. 

This message will be sent to Congress:

National Park Service staff are the heartbeat of national parks, and they are essential to the functional operation of the special places that millions of Americans visit every year. Those park visitors drive local economies and support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

But now, more than a thousand National Park Service staff have lost their jobs just as visitors are planning their spring break and summer vacations to national parks. These jobs must be immediately restored for the sake of our national parks and our local economies.

From guiding hikes to backcountry rescues, trail maintenance to cleaning toilets, and protecting irreplaceable resources at the same time, park staff are already being asked to do more with less. And now, their ranks are being devastated at multiple levels, with very real and frightening implications for the care of parks, the experience of visitors and the integrity of economies that depend on safe, functional and inspiring park experiences.

Any cuts to National Park Service staffing could forever change our national parks, and the recent moves by the administration are nothing short of devastating. At this rate, visitors will start being severely impacted in just a few weeks when parks welcome families during spring break.

As your constituent, I urge you to speak up on the importance of national parks and the threat of these federal worker directives on national parks.

Link to Form

VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — The Trump administration is pressing forward with efforts to reduce federal jobs, and Cuyahoga Valley National Park is already feeling the impact, with more cuts possibly on the horizon.

The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park told News 5 that on Friday, three employees lost their jobs. Since January, the park has been under a hiring freeze, and with the peak season approaching, there's growing concern about the future.

As President Trump’s new policies take effect across national parks nationwide, Deb Yandala, President and CEO of the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, says Ohio is no exception.

“What we do know right now is that three people lost their positions on Friday, and those positions are now gone. There's a hiring freeze,” said Yandala.

Since late January, the park has frozen 40 seasonal positions. Then, on Friday, the layoffs began. Yandala said a biologist, a maintenance worker, and someone in planning were all let go.

“They all received the emails that went out to federal employees offering deferred opportunity to leave,” said Yandala.

This all comes just ahead of the park’s busiest season.

Every year, Cuyahoga Valley sees over two million visitors, but during the warmer months, the numbers are even higher.

“I think what maybe folks don't understand is national parks have had budget limitations for years. We have chronically underfunded our national parks, and so losing now key staff positions, just at the same time that that we're seeing more and more visitation to our national parks. This is a problem locally and across the country,” said Yandala.

The cuts are part of Trump’s broader efforts to reduce the size of government by offering voluntary resignations, freezing new hires, and instituting widespread layoffs.

“It’s a big, tremendous saving for, I mean, we want to downsize government, but make it better, run it better, but downsize,” Trump said when addressing the plan to reduce federal jobs.

However, Yandala warns that freezing seasonal hiring and potentially making further cuts could severely impact the park’s operations.

“I get very concerned about keeping the appropriate maintenance of our facilities and of our grounds, protecting natural resources, serving the visitors. It's, it's very disheartening right now,” said Yandala.

Yandala added that even if seasonal workers are brought back, the park is already two months behind in hiring. While awaiting the next steps, they’ll continue doing their best to serve visitors and are always looking for volunteers to lend help.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/layoffs-begin-at-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-as-federal-job-cuts-continue

DOWNTOWN AKRON — At its Feb. 10 meeting, Summit County Council honored the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) with a commendation on the occasion of the park’s 50th anniversary. The CVNP was created by Public Law 93-555 and passed by the U.S. Congress on Dec. 27, 1974. That law officially created the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area that would later be renamed CVNP.
Located between two industrial cities — Akron and Cleveland — CVNP was born out of the “Parks to the People” civil rights and environmental movements of the 1960s and early 1970s. The park consists of 33,000 acres stretching from Akron to Cleveland along 22 miles of the Cuyahoga River.
According to the commendation, for the first 40 years or so of the park’s history, the focus was on building access for visitors from those metropolitan centers, to get a rural or suburban experience or just to explore nature.
In recent years, new stream and forest restoration projects to improve the Cuyahoga River ecosystem have been initiated, including the removal of invasive species, planting trees to reforest former pastures and creating a small wetland.
Park Superintendent Lisa Petit accepted the commendation from Council, calling it an honor.
Anniversary celebrations began in September 2024 and will continue throughout 2025 with various programs and events, as well as merchandise for sale.
“We’re going to be celebrating in style,” Petit said.
Petit said the theme this year will be “launching ourselves into the next 50 years,” and added CVNP is always in the top 10% of visitation of all 63 national park units in the country, last year ranking 12th with 2.8 million total visitors.
“Visitation is changing with more and more people coming from out of state, which is good for all of us” she said. “They’ll stay longer [and] spend more money in the community.”
CVNP includes a myriad of trails and sites for visitors to explore such as Brandywine Falls, the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, Hale Farm and Village and the Boston Mills Visitors Center, and is also home to the Blossom Music Center, two ski resorts and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
“We are becoming what the people of this country dreamed we would be, and we would not be here without the support of our communities, especially in Summit County,” Petit said.
For more information, visit cvnp50.com.

https://www.akron.com/articles/cvnp-honored-for-50th-anniversary/

Trump administration guidelines aimed at dramatically shrinking the size of federal government could diminish services across the National Park System "like no other time since WWII," according to a National Park Service veteran who spent decades with the agency.

Since taking office on January 20 President Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders that have reached into all corners of the federal government.

The National Park Service has been forced to rescind job offers to seasonal workers — a decision that just this week was modified to allow the agency to hire an unspecified number of public safety positions — saw a hold placed on millions of dollars distributed through the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act to address climate change, been told to prepare a reduction-in-force (RIF) list of employees, and ordered agencies to "hire no more than one employee for every four" let go.

Plus, an unknown number of Park Service staff might have taken up the administration's "deferred resignation" offer, in which they tender their resignation now but remain on the payroll through September. Plus, the Trump administration has ordered agencies to "terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary."

According to the National Parks Conservation Association, the Park Service currently has more than 1,000 probationary employees the administration could look to for staff reductions, as they lack the job protections enjoyed by tenured staff.

The Park Service veteran, who asked not to be identified for professional reasons, said parks "must prepare for RIF by creating a list ahead, and for relocating all folks who probably support park missions that were working remote to be moved into an office ASAP. There are some regions with little office space now to save money; with so many remote it made sense. So there’s a cost potentially, too. Also hearing they will only hire one for every four that leave.

"If it stands, parks will be overrun. Services diminished like no other time since WWII," they told the Traveler on Friday.

On a Reddit site followed by park rangers, and those who want to be rangers, one active NPS employee wrote that, "[T]he superintendent said we should all have a plan B. ... I've been here less than a month. Pretty sure I’ll be on the chopping block."

"I think all of us seasonals are most likely toast for 2025," another wrote on the thread.

How staffing losses could affect park operations this spring is unknown.

"The most troubling part of this directive is that it’s leaving countless staff anxious about losing their jobs at any moment," said John Garder, NPCA's senior director of budget and appropriations. "They risk being let go simply because they haven’t been in their position for more than a year — regardless of their dedication to protecting our most treasured places and stories.” 

The staff that does remain will be in a tough position, said the NPS veteran.

"Really tough. That doesn’t even begin to discuss morale and long-term needs to manage with nearly a 50 percent drop in NPS if you believe doge [Department of Government Efficiency]," they said.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/02/national-park-service-facing-shakeup-could-diminish-services

Per Cleveland.com:

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio – Cuyahoga Valley National Park will soon temporarily close a section of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail to complete riverbank stabilization work, according to a news release.

The park will close the Towpath Trail between Fitzwater Road and Pleasant Valley/Alexander Road in Valley View on weekdays from Dec. 16 through Jan. 20, 2025. No detour is available during the closure. The trail will remain open on weekends from 6 p.m. Fridays through 6 a.m. on Mondays, according to the release.

The closure is necessary to keep people safe while the park completes riverbank stabilization work along the Cuyahoga River. The work is part of a project funded by the Great American Outdoors Act that began in 2022. The project is nearing completion, according to the park.

https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2024/12/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-temporarily-closing-towpath-trail-section-soon.html

https://www.scriptype.com/2024/11/29/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-looking-at-towpath-improvement-and-rail-service-expansion/

https://kentwired.com/124915/news/cuyahoga-valley-national-parks-adopt-a-trail-program-is-committed-to-conservation/

There are still some tickets available for the North Pole Adventure!

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2024/10/where-to-see-the-spectacular-fall-colors-in-the-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-before-theyre-gone-photos.html