We Took a 3.5 Hour Train Ride Through a National Park

Our natural disaster recovery has been a long road, and it was looking to get even longer. We suddenly needed to pivot and continue heading west from New York, instead of making our way back east to New England. We left Niagara Falls and drove towards Indiana, where we would need to drop our trailer off for repairs. We gave ourselves two travel days but had a full weekend to hang our hats so we wouldn't need to make those drives back-to-back.

We found a lovely, quiet Boondockers Welcome site outside of Cleveland, which would be our home for the weekend. We booked it before our generator miraculously healed itself, so we made sure to have electric hookups. Hosts Jerry and Sherry graciously offer 50amp service next to their barn. The space was exactly what we needed to prepare for our upcoming week of unknowns.

Most of the weekend would be catching up on work and packing all the things we'd need once we were displaced from the trailer, but we did want to squeeze in a few hours of fun.

We didn't choose to stay in Cleveland for the city, no matter how much it rocks. We had a chance to add a 6th pin to our board in 2022, and that would be our consolation prize for all the changed plans that left us sad and stressed.

Having only a partial day to spend in Cuyahoga Valley, we needed to choose our activities wisely. We could hike, but we felt we needed a break from hiking for a while. Ebiking was an option, but we can ebike anywhere. What we found was much more unique, and certainly not anything we had done before at a National Park.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR) has had many chapters. Beginning in 1880 as a mode of transport for industrial materials to factories, it soon also became a way for city dwellers to conveniently make their way to the countryside for some R&R. Now it serves as a scenic railway for National Park visitors. The most unique feature of all? It's an all-volunteer railway!

The CVSR offers lots of options for passengers, ranging from the scenic ride, Explorer transport services for hikers and bikers, and special events such as the popular "North Pole" excursion that's a real-life Polar Express for children around the holidays. We were a couple weeks short of the Fall Flyer event, which would have been an amazing way to see the foliage, but instead we opted for the full scenic ride. This excursion began in Akron, just outside the south side of the park, and took us all the way up to Rockside on the northern part of the park. The whole ride there and back is between 3.5-4 hours, but passengers are allowed to disembark if they'd like to check out one of the stops. Since we didn't have much time, we opted to stay on the train and then later drive to the visitor center to walk around and buy our pin.

We lucked out and happened to book the ride on a day that they were chartering a Zephyr car, which has a special upper level with a dome roof. Because the train would include this special car, they decided to also add a premium car to our scenic ride. It was only $5 more per person than the coach tickets and would include a snazzy car with extra spacious and cushy seats, with a sizeable table per four seats. We booked on a non-busy day, the lull between the rush of summer and the ever-popular leaf peeping season. The premium car only had 3 other passengers for our northbound trip, and two decided to get off at one of the mid-way stops.

We felt like we were VIP passengers, as Bob the trainman made sure to answer all our questions and provide us ample information about the National Park, which we embarrassingly knew nothing about. As we traveled alongside the Cuyahoga River, we learned about the valley and its importance in industrialization. Coal factories were popular in the area, so demand for easy transport of raw materials rose quickly. In 1825, construction began of the Ohio and Erie Canalway, which connected Lake Erie to the Ohio River, boosting the economy with its convenience of transportation. The canal was built along the Cuyahoga River, whose waters fed into the canal. Unfortunately, back in the day, environmental protection wasn't a priority, so oil slicks from the factories contaminated the river. This resulted in several fires. One in particular garnered national attention, and this was part of the impetus for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Locals love to tell the story of how the Cuyahoga Valley single-handedly led to the establishment of the EPA, but we all know that nothing is that straightforward when it comes to the government!

"Cuyahoga" is an indigenous term that means "crooked" or "jawbone," both appropriate, given that the river runs south before it runs into the St. Lawrence Continental Divide, at which it immediately shifts direction and curves northward. A map of the river illustrates this jawbone shape well; the river looks like a little upturned smile.

You can also see from the above map that paddling is big on the Cuyahoga River. Now a lot cleaner than the 1800s, recreationalists in the metro Cleveland and Akron areas flock to this region with their kayaks to take in the scenery from the water.

The Cuyahoga Valley has been under federal regulation for close to 50 years, but it was only designated a National Park in 2000. Because of its proximity to large cities, many private establishments had already been built long before the preservation of this area began. Therefore, the National Park Service needed to work with the business owners, grandfathering them in and allowing them to continue running their businesses from within the park. As we rode the railway, we saw lots of shops and farmer's markets. Then, after our ride, we stopped at a shop near the Boston Mill Visitor Center, where we bought some locally made ice cream and browsed the blend of National Park and Ohio merchandise.

The preservation of Cuyahoga Valley is not just beneficial for Ohio residents who want to get to nature, but for wildlife as well. From our train window we got to see a family of swans and an eagle, and we learned about the other creatures that populate this area, including a variety of amphibians that make the wetlands their home.

At the northern terminus of the scenic ride, the workers have a shift turnover. We bid farewell to Bob and were greeted by Ralph. We took one look at him shuffling his way down the train car aisle, and we knew we were in for a good time. Ralph is 97 years old and has been volunteering for the CVSR for 13 years. Before that, he was a man of the country. We sat and talked with him about his travel adventures back in the day, which included an 8-week RV trip to Alaska and many visits to national park sites. He showed us his NPS passport book, filled from cover to cover with stamps. He said that's his second one. Ralph has visited 233 national park sites. That's about half of all of them. As for the National Parks themselves, he's visited 33.

Our return trip in the premium car wasn't as quiet and peaceful. Word got out that the premium car was added because they were chartering cars that day (true) for a special event (untrue), and the premium car was the same price as the coach cars (untrue). Suddenly we were surrounded by stowaways, all chatting happily about their good fortune that they got to sit in the plush chairs at no extra cost. Well, at least our extra $10 went toward a good cause, to keep this special organization running for visitors to the park.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad was a great choice for a relaxing, unique way to see the  National Park. We spanned nearly the entire length of the park and obtained a lot of knowledge along the way. We can't say we really connected with the park the way we have others, partially due to its built-up nature and partially due to our limited time there, but we will always remember getting our 10th National Park pin by riding a train along the smiling river, and that memory makes us smile too.