Nearly 3 million people visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2022 鈥� breaking into the top ten most visited national parks in the country.
Public information officer Pamela Barnes said the park saw a spike in attendance in 2020, and visitation continued to grow, surpassing that number in 2022.
鈥淒uring the pandemic, when a lot of indoor locations were closed, people found the parks,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat we've seen is that trend is continuing.鈥�
Barnes also said the park鈥檚 name was changed from 鈥渘ational recreation area鈥� to 鈥渘ational park鈥� in 2000, which has helped draw more out-of-town visitors through the years.
鈥淭here's a bit more of a recognition of the park designation of National Park,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat has over the years boosted our out of town visitation to people who want to check all those national parks off their lists.鈥�
National parks across the country utilize traffic counters at the entrance of parking lots to calculate visitors.
The most popular areas of the park are Brandywine Falls, the Ledges Trail and the Beaver Marsh located along the Towpath Trail, Barnes said.
In the last few years there have been several changes made to the park such as the opening of the Boston Mill Visitor Center in 2019. Additionally, there has been an effort to increase access to the Cuyahoga River throughout the park.
According to Barnes, an increased social media presence and the marketing of Cleveland has also led people to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
鈥淲hen people are planning a trip to Cleveland, they are seeing that there is a national park here,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey're visiting the city of Cleveland to go to the Rock Hall or sporting events, and then they're adding the park.鈥�
Barnes said Cuyahoga Valley National Park is unique because of its location and history.
鈥淚f you hear national park, you鈥檙e thinking Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains and vast wilderness, that is not Cuyahoga Valley,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 close to home, it鈥檚 between two cities, and it鈥檚 the park that tells the incredible story of the Cuyahoga River, [鈥 of environmental comeback.鈥�
The park is an asset to the community, Barnes said.
鈥淚t is an incredible resource for people's physical and mental well-being. It's 125 miles of trails,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can drive less than a half an hour or so down the road and feel like you are getting away from it all.鈥�
Barnes said she encourages more visitors to come check out the park.
鈥淒on鈥檛 let the fact that we've announced this this increase in visitation keep you from coming,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e love seeing people come to enjoy the national park. We love welcoming people.鈥�
