Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Saturday)

I'm heading out to Colorado for several weeks.  Should be plenty of good running and hiking in the mountains and many other unique places.  On the way out, I decided to go to another National Park and run.  I went to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.  I've been nearby and never even realized it existed.  Of course, that was before I was a trail runner too.

I wasn't sure how to dress.  It was raining off and on early in the morning.  I went with a shell and that was a bit much.  It was so humid.  I survived this short run though.

I'm not really sure why this is a National Park.  I guess it has a lot of history.  The canal used to run through there and is now a towpath.  They have a historic town, Boston Mills.  It is a neat area, even if not amazing.

I wanted to try to get some waterfalls.  Really, I just wanted some different trail running.  I wanted it short too.  A bunch of people were running the towpath, including a few with a lot of effort.  Road runners no doubt.  I took it easy.

I tried to find the trail off of the towpath.  It took some time until I had some luck.  It looked like they started behind this old house.  I was unsure if that was a park building or not.  I followed what I thought was a trail.  It had streamers.  It turns out it wasn't the correct trail.  Maybe this was from the 100 miler that goes through the area.

I turned and headed back.  I went down and old road past the house.  Finally, I realized that this wasn't it either.  I looked at the house more carefully and saw it was part of the park.

I went behind the house and found the trail.  At first, it was an open field.  It had a few camping spots.  I cruised along in the muggy conditions.  Then, it was on to the woods.

This part was beautiful.  It was smooth and beautiful.  These are some nice woods.  The trail was super easy, but I hiked a lot anyway.  I did a bit of a climb.  I followed the trail as it snaked around.

I decided when I was on the ridge that I wouldn't go downhill.  I didn't have enough time for the falls, so I went toward a pond.  I decided to turn before getting to it too.  I headed back.

Now, I knew where I was going.  Coming back was uneventful.  I got back drenched in sweat.  I was happy to be done though.  I got my National Parks Passport book stamped.

This park was nice.  It wasn't worth the drive out there, but it is a nice side trip.  Now, it is on to the big mountains of Colorado.  I hope I can run a bunch, but I have to be careful when it comes to elevation.

4.41 miles - 53:16 (12:05 pace) 235 feet of elevation gain