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1. Travel
OVERNIGHT AT VALLEY OVERLOOK: ‘COMFORTABLE CAMPING’ IN THE HEART OF CUYAHOGA
VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
* Published: Aug. 29, 2023, 6:00 a.m.
One of 11 canvas cabins at Valley Overlook, a new cabin and campground within
Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
211
shares
By
* Susan Glaser, cleveland.com
PENINSULA, Ohio – I fell asleep to a symphony of cicadas and woke up to birds
singing.
And in between: I could just make out the Goo Goo Dolls performing their smash
hit “Iris” at Blossom Music Center, about a mile away.
To say the new Valley Overlook upscale campground is centrally located within
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is an understatement. I was an easy bike ride or
short drive to nearly every attraction within the park.
The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail was a half-mile away; the popular Ledges
Trail, a 10-minute drive. And charming Peninsula, with numerous restaurants and
shops, was 4 miles by bike.
The great joy of Cuyahoga Valley, at least for those of us who live in Northeast
Ohio, is its proximity – a half hour from Cleveland, 15 minutes from Akron. It’s
a day-use park for most of us, so perhaps we’ve never noticed the lack of nearby
lodging.
There isn’t much, except for a few chain hotels on nearby Ohio 8 and I-77, and a
couple of bed and breakfasts, including the lovely Inn at Brandywine Falls in
Sagamore Hills.
That changed this summer, with the opening of Valley Overlook, with cabins and
upscale camping on Akron-Peninsula Road in the heart of the park.
The campground is on the site of the former Camp Mueller, a summer camp for kids
from Cleveland that predates the national park. The camp was founded in the
1930s by the Phillis Wheatley Association, a social service agency, well before
Cuyahoga Valley became a national park property in 1974.
The 62-acre camp was sold in 2022 to a family from Brecksville, Terry and Janet
Schoen and their adult children, who have been methodically working to get it
back into shape.
Canvas cabins at Valley Overlook are furnished with king, queen or twin beds,
small dining table and two chairs.
Biking along the towpath trail at the Beaver Marsh, a short distance from Valley
Overlook, a new upscale campground inside Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
View from the deck of my canvas cabin at Valley Overlook, a new upscale
campground within Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
There’s still a bit of construction on the property, but it’s already a
showstopper – with 11 platform tents to rent, plus five all-season cabins and a
handful of primitive campsites.
The platform tents, or canvas cabins as Valley Overlook calls them, are the
clear early favorite – at least while the weather is nice – set amid the trees,
with private decks overlooking the forest.
“This is so much nicer than staying in a hotel,” said Julie Carroll of Columbus,
who spent the night recently in a canvas cabin.
Manasi Bhadane of Mayfield Heights called the experience “comfortable camping.”
Bhadane, along with husband Abhiraj Bhadane, was enjoying a close-to-home
getaway before the start of school with 9-year-old daughter Avani.
“We liked it so much we added a second day,” said Bhandane.
This is my kind of camping, too – no tent to pitch, a comfortable bed to sleep
on, no cooking on a crowded camp stove.
My stay was too quick – a single overnight last month, with less than 24 hours
in the park. It was just long enough, however, to feel fully away from home and
immersed in nature, filled with the trifecta of camping activities: hiking,
biking and sitting around a campfire. (Plenty of mosquitos too.)
My one-night rental in a canvas cabin ran $99 per night.
The tents are fully furnished, with a king, queen or two twin beds, outfitted
with linens and blankets. There’s a small table with benches inside, plus an
additional four chairs, two inside and two out.
Some of the tents have electricity, although mine did not, and I didn’t miss it.
All are outfitted with battery-powered lanterns.
There are no kitchens or bathrooms, although fire pits are equipped with an
attached grill if you’re feeling ambitious. I was not.
Instead of packing food and cooking utensils, I packed my bicycle – and cycled
25 minutes along the towpath into Peninsula for dinner at Fisher’s. (Note:
Getting to the towpath requires a short stretch on both Akron-Peninsula and
Bolanz roads.)
I could have done the same for breakfast, but instead brought a banana, granola
bar and a can of cold brew coffee for my morning meal.
The only thing I cooked while I was there? Marshmallows over the open fire,
which I sandwiched between chocolate and graham crackers.
Full-service bathrooms were new, clean and a short walk from the tents. Even so,
I was glad I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night and need to use the
restroom.
The cabins, meanwhile, are fully outfitted and upscale – with stocked kitchens,
heating and air conditioning. All but one has an en suite bathroom. There are
cabins that sleep eight, six, four and two.
And the Schoens aren’t done yet.
The family is talking with the national park about possibly adding RV camping
sites next year. There’s a vacant building on the property that might work well
as a small hostel, with single beds for rent in one large room.
And a large brick building, which served as a dining hall for Camp Mueller, may
eventually be converted into event space. It currently functions as Valley
Overlook’s office and also includes additional toilets and showers.
A short hike on the Valley Overlook grounds leads to this "valley overlook."
Valley Overlook is a new upscale campground on Akron-Peninsula Road; across the
street is Szalay's Farm & Market, famous for its sweet corn.
The Bhandane family from Mayfield Heights enjoyed their stay so much they added
another night.
All of the structures are clustered in a relatively compact 20 acres, per a
national park easement that limits development on the rest of the property’s 42
acres.
A half-mile trail on the grounds leads to a lovely hilltop spot overlooking the
valley – hence the name Valley Overlook.
The National Park Service had an option to buy the land but declined, instead
choosing to work with the Schoens to ensure the property is preserved into the
future. All development on the land has to meet strict park service guidelines.
“There are various ways that parks can preserve land,” a park representative
told me earlier this year. “We didn’t need to purchase it to protect it.”
Visitors to the park – the ninth most visited in the country last year -- have
been clamoring for years for camping options in or near the park.
Years ago, the Conservancy for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the nonprofit
group that supports the park, operated five primitive campsites near the
historic Stanford House, now a rental home north of Peninsula. The campsites
were closed in 2019, however.
Carroll, the camper from Columbus, is a frequent visitor to the park and was
thrilled with the new overnight option.
“I’ve always wanted to camp in the park,” she said. “I have got to come back in
the fall.”
Other visitors I met during my stay included two young women from England, who
had just finished a camp counselor gig in Massachusetts and were working their
way west across the U.S.
Owner Terry Schoen said about half of the guests are from Northeast Ohio, with
half coming from outside the region. “My favorite thing is meeting people and
hearing their stories,” he said.
Luke Vanderploeg, of southwest Michigan, was traveling on his motorcycle east to
Pennsylvania when he decided to make a quick detour to explore Cuyahoga Valley
for the first time.
“This is a weird place for a park,” he observed, noting its proximity to
Cleveland and Akron.
That, of course, is what makes it so special – even more so now that you can
spend the night.
An old Camp Mueller sign on the grounds of Valley Overlook within Cuyahoga
Valley National Park.
Back deck of one of the cabins at Valley Overlook.
Cabin interior at Valley Overlook.
If you go: Valley Overlook Lodging and Campground
What: New upscale camping and cabin venue within Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Where: 4451 Akron-Peninsula Road, just north of Bolanz Road
Nearby: Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, the
shops and restaurants of Peninsula, Szalay’s Farm & Market
How much: Canvas cabins run $89-129 per night, depending on the day. Cabins are
$149-$319. Primitive camp sites are $40-$50. Note: There is a two-night minimum
stay on weekends.
More information: valleyoverlook.com
Read more: Upscale camping coming soon to Cuyahoga Valley National Park at new
Valley Overlook campground and cabins
Cabin exterior at Valley Overlook.
Biking north along the towpath toward Peninsula, and dinner.
Canvas cabins at Valley Overlook.
The former Camp Mueller dining hall may be converted into an event center at
Valley Overlook.
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