Travel publication names Cuyahoga Valley second best national park in America

Emily Mills, Akron Beacon Journal
·3 min read
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A couple walks along the Ledges Trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
A couple walks along the Ledges Trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.

A study from an online travel publication has named Cuyahoga Valley National Park the second best national park in the U.S.

The study from Travel Lens, a publication that was created in 2019, names the 10 best national parks in the country, based on national park entrance fees, the number of recreational visitors, the distance to the closest city and TripAdvisor reviews to award each national park a score out of 10.

According to the study, CVNP had 2,575,275 visitors in 2021. It doesn’t have an entrance fee, and it’s located three miles from the closest city. On TripAdvisor, 35.36% percent of reviews mentioned the word “beautiful.” That combined to give CVNP a score of 8.16 out of 10.

It fell behind only Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in North Carolina and Tennessee, which received a score of 8.45 out of 10.

“Despite being one of the smaller national parks on our list, with an area of just 131.8km², there are still plenty of things to do in Cuyahoga Valley National Park,” Travel Lens said. "The Ohio-based national park also boasts a free entrance fee, meaning anyone can go and enjoy it, as well as a short distance to its closest city. Just three miles separate Cuyahoga Valley and Peninsula.”

(As a clarification to the study, Peninsula is located within CVNP.)

Guide to CVNP:Everything you need to know about visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Photo of Blue Hen Falls taken on the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
Photo of Blue Hen Falls taken on the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Tuesday, April 7, 2015.

Some popular parks were left off the top 10 of the list that included a total of 62 national parks, like Grand Canyon (tied at No. 21 with Gateway Arch), Sequoia (61), Yosemite (20) and Yellowstone (51).

Yellowstone did rank at No. 3 in the most popular parks based on number of visitors, at 4,860,242, behind Great Smoky Mountains (14,161,548) and Zion (5,039,835).

The study also ranked the national parks by best location (1. Joshua Tree, 2. Grand Teton, 3. Kenai Fjords) and most beautiful (1. Zion, 2. Glacier Bay, 3. Kenai Fjords).

Additionally, the study ranked the best national parks for activities: Yosemite for hiking; New River Gorge for fishing; Olympic for camping; Grand Canyon for rafting; Joshua Tree for climbing; Acadia for biking; Grand Teton for skiing and snowshoeing; Glacier for canoeing and kayaking; Everglades for birdwatching; and Yellowstone for wildlife viewing.

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Travel Lens said the study used Wikipedia’s list of U.S. national parks to get the list of national parks and the number of 2021 recreational visitors; TripAdvisor and Yelp to get the rating, number of reviews and number of reviews containing beautiful; Destination Parks to get the mileage and the destination of each national park’s closest city; National Park Obsessed to get the entrance fee for each national park; and Tripsavvy to get the best U.S. national park for each outdoor activity.

Although the study only listed 62 national parks, the National Park Service administers more than 400 national parks across the country, with more than 19 naming designations, including national recreational areas, parkways, memorials and national seashores.

A hiker takes in the view from the Overlook at the Ledges in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
A hiker takes in the view from the Overlook at the Ledges in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.

The top 10 from Travel Lens include:

  • Great Smoky Mountains (location: North Carolina, Tennessee; recreation visitors: 14,161,548; entrance fee: $5; distance to closest city in miles: 7.6; “beautiful” reviews: 54.73%; overall score: 8.45)

  • Cuyahoga Valley (Ohio; 2,575,275; $0; 3; 35.36%; 8.16)

  • Olympic (Washington; 2,718,925; $15; 1.8; 45.73%; 7.75)

  • Biscayne (Florida; 705,655; $0; 8.9; 43.55%; 7.3)

  • Hot Springs (Arkansas; 2,162,884; 0; 2.3; 23.95%; 7.3)

  • Glacier (Montana; 3,081,656; $20; 2.2; 51.99%; 7.17)

  • Zion (Utah; 5,039,835; $20; 1.4; 44.05%; 7.09)

  • New River Gorge (West Virginia; 1,682,720; $0; not listed; 48.15%; 7.01)

  • Grand Teton (Wyoming; 3,885,230; $20; 0.3; 43.07%; 6.89)

  • Indiana Dunes (Indiana; 3,177,210; $15; 6.3; 30.33%; 6.8)

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cuyahoga Valley named second best national park in America