The Boston Mill Visitor Center at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The Boston Mill Visitor Center was the perfect place to start our visit at Cuyahoga Valley National Park! We learned about the park’s geological features, history, amenities, and opportunities for recreation.

The interactive information board outside the Boston Mill Visitor Center contained a screen with changing park information, including hours and events. There good old-fashioned brochures and maps, too. My son was excited to have a physical park map and see the trails we had already completed.

We moved inside and explored the center, learning about the parklands surrounding the Cuyahoga River. Two of our kids have national parks passports and had them stamped while we were there. We also picked up some merchandise in the park store.

We also learned about the center itself. It was remodeled in 2019 and the historic site has previously served as a tavern, residence, general store, and the park’s visitor center. The remodel also included two neighboring historic buildings.

The Boston Mill Station was moved during the renovation. It’s a stop on the scenic railroad, which operates during the warmer months of the year. We were disappointed to miss it! We parked just outside the station house in the main parking lot and picnicked at the shelter, just by the railroad tracks.

The Boston Mill Visitor Center also serves as an access point for the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath. The towpath is over 100 miles long, 20 of which are in the park. It’s popular for walkers, joggers, cyclists, and horseback riders.

We took a short hike down the towpath. It started off as a paved trail and turned into compacted rock.

This was by far the easiest trail we hiked as it was completely flat, following the winding river. Towpaths were used to ship goods upriver before the use of railroads. They’re common east of the Mississippi and we’ve seen them before (like the one at Great Falls Park). The one at Cuyahoga Valley National Park was in use for nearly 100 years and is in very good shape considering its age.

We saw cyclists as soon as we started on the trail. Several passed us and all were courteous to pedestrians, using their bells to alert us before they passed.

The trailhead had a small area with information about the boats that were used in the canal. It included a climbable model boat that was often covered in children (including mine).

The real stars of the trail were the turtles! We’d seen very little wildlife in the park on our previous hikes and expected we would not see any on this one. Instead, we saw countless turtles who were climbing out to enjoy the sun!