Cuyahoga Valley is the only US national park within a major metropolitan area's commuting belt — its southern end is twenty minutes from downtown Akron, its northern end half an hour from downtown Cleveland — and yet inside the park the river canyon, the waterfalls, and the regrown hardwood forest look like rural Pennsylvania. The transformation since the 1960s, when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland and federal protection was put in motion, is one of the most successful pieces of US environmental rehabilitation.
Highlights from the Akron side include Brandywine Falls (a 65-foot cascade over a sandstone ledge, with a wooden boardwalk down to a viewing platform); the Ledges trail at Virginia Kendall, where a network of footpaths threads through eroded sandstone cliffs; the towpath trail along the Ohio & Erie Canalway, which runs the length of the park and is excellent for cycling; and the Beaver Marsh, a flooded wetland on the towpath that is genuinely one of the best wildlife-spotting locations in northeast Ohio (river otters, herons, beavers, painted turtles).
Admission is free. The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad runs heritage trains the length of the park from Akron's Northside Station to Independence — a good option for one-way hike-then-ride trips. Park information and maps are at the Boston Mill Visitor Center.