Greater Cleveland/Akron has thousands of acres of green space to enjoy year-round. Although some people save outdoor activities for warmer months, the parks stay open all year to encourage those who want to stay fit and healthy to skip the gym and go outside. Most people can leave work on a sunny Friday afternoon and be playing golf, riding a bike, sailing a boat, skiing or walking the dog on a path in a public park within 30 minutes. That's a great work-life balance!
Consistently ranked in the top 10 most visited of all the national parks in the entire country. Why? Because it is located just 30 minutes from two major cities (Cleveland and Akron) while most national parks are a day's drive from urban centers. With three million residents nearby to enjoy the park year-round the locals use it just as much if not more than visitors. The park was carved out by the Cuyahoga River which twists and turns for 90 miles, many of them in the national park.
The Towpath Trail is a path that is the central spine of the park, following the generally flat topography of the Ohio & Erie Canalway 100 miles south from Cleveland to Zoar, Ohio. Walkers, joggers, bikers, families with dogs and strollers all use this path that has many connectors, even into city neighborhoods such as the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail, that links Tremont and Ohio City to Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.
If you'd rather sit back and watch the scenery go by, try the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. It has stations in Independence, Peninsula and Akron. Beginning each May it offers Bike Aboard where you can cycle one leg of the trip and return via train with your bike on board.
An extensive system of nature preserves which form a giant ring around the city. Hence the nickname, The Emerald Necklace. The Metroparks system is made up of 18 different parks (referred to as reservations) totaling more than 23,000 acres. Eight of the parks are in the city of Cleveland with the rest located in the suburbs of Cuyahoga County, generally following the flow of rivers and creeks in the region.
There are dozens of activities and resources in the parks including: eight golf courses, the nationally renowned Cleveland Zoo, seven nature/visitor centers, miles of walking and bike paths, horse trails, dozens of picnic areas, three beaches, several natural lakes, swimming pools and countless fishing spots. The parks are used throughout all four seasons with seasonal activities ranging from toboggan chutes and cross country skiing to kayaking, archery and paddle boarding to name a few. In addition, the Metroparks include two Lake Erie beaches; Huntington Park in Bay Village, and Edgewater Park on Cleveland's near westside.
Mill Stream Run Reservation in Strongsville
20 parks make up this system east of Cleveland including unique sites such as Observatory Park, one of just a handful of locations in the US designated by the International Dark Sky Association as dark enough to observe the Milky Way.
Formed in the 1950's, this park system now has over 6,500 acres under management including 70 acres of botanical gardens in the Schoepfle Gardens and activities ranging from outdoor sports and recreation to indoor fitness and classes.
With 11,500 acres including 14 parks, several conservation areas and more than 125 miles of trails, Summit Metro Parks provides Akron residents with the best kind of backyard. The Metro Parks contain over 20 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canalway towpath.
Smack dab in the middle of the snowbelt, Lake County offers the best cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the region, but also has beautiful green space, filled with activities throughout the other three seasons of the year.
The state has more than a dozen public parks within an hour's drive of Cleveland and Akron including the beautiful and popular Headlands Beach State Park on Lake Erie in Mentor and parks in the Sandusky Islands area.
Mentor Headlands Dunes Nature Preserve
Talk about great reuse of a resource, this 88-acre site overlooking Cleveland's skyline was created by the Port Authority as a dumping ground from the late '70's through the late '90's for clean sediment dredged from the Cuyahoga River in order to keep it an active shipping channel. When dumping stopped nature took hold, and with very little human intervention the peninsula became filled with plants, trees and shrubs that attracted diverse species of birds and other wildlife. It is now a nature preserve with trails, wonderful bird watching and a lovely park that was created in part by one of our co-workers and her fellow Garden Club members.
As you drive from University Circle to I-90 along Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. or along East Blvd. you will pass more than 20 gardens celebrating the ethnic diversity of NE Ohio, which boasts more than 100 nationalities among its residents. Events take place throughout the summer with the main event, One World Day highlighting its purpose "Peace through Understanding."
Created in the 1960's as a grassroots effort to prevent a freeway from cutting through the middle of the suburbs of Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, this nature center welcomes more than 10,000 school children every year in addition to thousands of hikers, ecologists and birders. Like most of the parks in northeast Ohio, it has free admission and ADA accessible trails.
Judith and Maynard H. Murch IV Canopy Walk, Holden Arboretum
With 3,600 acres, this is one of the largest arboretums in the country, featuring trees, plants and flowers indigenous to Ohio. One of the highlights for families to visit is the Canopy Walk through the trees and the Emergent Tower above the trees. It is located 30 minutes east of Cleveland in the rolling hills of Kirtland while its partner, The Cleveland Botanical Gardens, is in University Circle.
Northern Virginia has Arlington Cemetery attracting tourists to visit its history and beautiful gardens. Cleveland's version is the stunning Lake View Cemetery, also filled with history and beautiful gardens. It is the final resting place for many historical figures including President James A. Garfield, John D. Rockefeller and Eliot Ness among many others. The cemetery serves as an arboretum filled with history tours, garden tours, trails and a beautiful backdrop for photos and picnics.
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Photo Credits
Upper Edgewater Cleveland sign courtesy of Cleveland Metroparks
Cuyahoga Valley sunset couple courtesy of Cody York for ThisIsCleveland.com
Mill Stream Run Reservation, Strongsville by David Ellis (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Holden Arboretum's Murch Canopy Walk courtesy of Holden Forests & Gardens
Cleveland Botanical Garden courtesy of Holden Forests & Gardens
Garfield Monument by David Wilson (CC BY 2.0)
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