Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Bedrock outcrops, such as this one, can be found throughout the park
Map showing the location of Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Map showing the location of Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Location in Ohio
Map showing the location of Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Map showing the location of Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Location in the United States
LocationSummit County & Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States
Nearest cityCleveland, Akron
Coordinates41°14′30″N 81°32′59″W / 41.24167°N 81.54972°W / 41.24167; -81.54972
Area32,783 acres (51.2 sq mi; 132.7 km2)[1]
EstablishedOctober 11, 2000
Visitors2,913,312 (in 2022)[2]
Governing bodyNational Park Service
WebsiteCuyahoga Valley National Park

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is an American national park in Ohio that preserves and reclaims the rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland in Northeast Ohio.

The 32,783-acre (51.2 sq mi; 132.7 km2) park[1] is administered by the National Park Service, but within its boundaries are areas independently managed as county parks or as public or private businesses. Cuyahoga Valley was originally designated as a national recreation area (NRA) in 1974, then redesignated as a national park 26 years later in 2000, and remains the only national park that originated as a national recreation area.

Cuyahoga Valley is the only national park in the state of Ohio and one of three in the Great Lakes Basin, with Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior and Indiana Dunes National Park bordering Lake Michigan. Cuyahoga Valley also differs from the other national parks in the US in that it is adjacent to two large urban areas and it includes a dense road network, small towns, four reservations of the Cleveland Metroparks, eleven parks of the Summit Metro Parks, and public and private attractions. It was the ninth-most visited American national park in 2022, attracting more than 2.9 million visitors.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b "National Reports". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved 5 May 2017. Click on Park Acreage Reports (1997 – Last Calendar/Fiscal Year), then select By Park, Calendar Year, <choose year>, and then click the View PDF Report button – the area used here is Gross Area Acres which appears in the final column of the report
  2. ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved 2023-07-23.