No disrespect meant for Ohio, but when we started our trip 10 months ago, we didn’t realize there was a National Park in the Buckeye State, and we drove right by it. Who would have thought? So, here we are again, up in the northeast corner of the state to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Cuyahoga is the name of the river that runs through it and it’s an American Indian name meaning crooked, which is how the river runs its course, bending and twisting through the Cuyahoga Valley. It’s been a long, cold, winter back east since we’ve been back and CVNP offered us our first real respite from it’s icy, windy, grip. Our first two days here gave us hope that spring was on the way by blessing us with two sunny, warm, days with temps in the sixties. It was the perfect weather for hiking the relatively low hills and mountains here on the edge of the mid-west. It was also the first signs we’ve seen that spring is trying to make its entry into the seasonal sequence. We were treated to a variety of living things that were also taking advantage of the weather to make their presence known. There were a plethora of flowers that were beginning to bloom on the forest floor. The trails were frequented by small garter snakes as well as a larger black one that was lounging in a hollowed out tree trunk. Butterflies and caterpillars were starting to appear and a pair of Mallards were enjoying an abundance of fresh plants growing on the bottom of Kendal Lake. We marveled at a tree trunk that was sculpted by beavers who apparently gave up eating their way through a large tree. The warm weather also brought out a large number of park visitors who like us, had the first real reason in a long time, to get out of the house and back into nature. The large numbers of visitors are also due to the parks close proximity to Cleveland and Akron. CVNP is not as dramatic as the National Parks we’ve been visiting and has more the feel of a state park. It does however, have a number of unique features like the Ledges, which are large, eroding, sandstone blocks that you can hike among. The Ohio and Erie Canal, though not used anymore, runs through the park and provides a glimpse of the history of the area. There is a scenic train that runs through the park and offers visitors a number of different activities and of course there are miles and miles of hiking trails. The park was established in 2000 and was part of the National Park Services efforts to place National Parks closer to urban areas to give more people access to nature. On that and many other levels, Cuyahoga National Park succeeds.