Most of the national parks we visited were with great forethought and planning, but Cuyahoga “just happened” to be a stone’s throw from where we were staying while attending a wedding this fall! I was looking for “what to do” near the little town of Stowe, Ohio, and unbelievably—a national park appeared!
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is one of the most recent parks, established in 2020. What I remember well from my college days was that the Cuyahoga River caught fire in the summer of 1969 just south of Cleveland, sparking national dismay and inspiring the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Earth Day! What I didn’t know was that the Cuyahoga River first burned a hundred years prior (1868), eleven more times between then and 1969 . . . and once again in 2020! Yikes!
(kmussser https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cuyahogarivermap.png)
It’s a short river (only 100 miles long) and services two large metropolitan areas (Akron and Cleveland, both in Ohio), but the worst problem has been a long history of industrial and human waste being improperly handled.
Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park
However, when we visited, the river was in good health, and the national park has done a great job in reclaiming the natural beauty of the area.
Boston Mill Visitor Center
America needs her national parks!
Stone Steps along Stanford Trail
Cuyahoga is the only national park in Ohio, and one of only three national parks in the Great Lakes Basin (including one in Michigan and one in Indiana).
As residents of the Great Lakes Basin area, we felt very much at home with the sandstone cliffs and gently rugged pathways.
(Closeup of fascinating formations and mineral deposits in the sandstone cliff walls)
Stanford Trail was similar to hiking some of the paths around Grand Ledge or the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan.
The ferns looked familiar.
The bursts of goldenrod and spritely purple asters looked familiar.
The noble cedar trees hanging on for dear life looked familiar!
But, not everybody who lives in Ohio can head 748 miles north to visit the Porcupine Mountains, nor can every Yooper can travel 748 miles south to enjoy Cuyahoga Valley.
No, we need the refreshment of natural beauty and quiet spaces scattered throughout our country—and around the world!
I don’t mean to undersell the park. May familiarity breed comfort, not contempt!
Cuyhoga Valley has depth. There are over 125 miles of trails, including a section of the nationally famous 101-mile Ohio & Eric Canal Towpath, which extends both north and south of the park and attracts the greatest number of visitors.
Speaking of visitors, this unassuming park tucked into middle America is ranked #9 in visitors this past year.
Over 2.9 million people visited in 2022 —even more than the undeniably magnificent Glacier National Park! Why?
It’s pleasant. It’s now unpolluted and has become safe. It’s tranquil. And, I think most importantly: It’s accessible. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a bit of restored and preserved nature where people are welcome.
I’d like to think that people can serve a similar purpose. We don’t have to be world-class or phenomenal to be a blessing to others; we just need to be available. And restored by God. America needs so much healing. We need people who have experienced the saving grace of Jesus in their lives and are willing to be accessible to others. We need these little lights scattered and shining all over the country! All over the world!
Are you with me? God can take burning rivers and turn them into safe havens amidst the chaos.
“Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. [Then He says] . . . I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame” (Joel 2:12-13 and 25-26).
Summer Setting 
