Ohio: Hocking Hills or Cuyahoga National Park
Debating if we should check out either of these places for an extended weekend. Our kids are 11, 9, and 5. We'd like to check out the area and go for walks/hikes, keeping in mind it has to be paced fo...
Forum Discussion
Biking: Cuyahoga Valley
Hiking: Hocking Hills
Both have both, though. Hocking Hills is a lot hillier, and more scenic. There are many trails that are accessible for kids (Ash Cave, Old Man's Cave, Conkles Hollow, various others). All in all, there's some great hiking. That same hilliness doesn't lend itself to good bicycling though, especially for kids. Cuyahoga Valley is more tame, has a really nice bike path, good hiking (although less scenic), and has more other attractions like the scenic railroad, and some nice small towns.
There's A LOT more camping in Hocking Hills (various state parks - the primary of which is Old Man's Cave campground at Hocking Hills SP, but there are others, as well as state forest and National Forest campgrounds). The only camping I know of at Cuyahoga Valley is for backpackers/overnight-bikers - not car camping - there's one small campground mainly setup for backpackers. There's also Portage Lakes SP just south of Akron, but it's not all that great.
For an interesting place to stay in Akron (not camping), check out the Quaker Square Inn.
Hiking: Hocking Hills
Both have both, though. Hocking Hills is a lot hillier, and more scenic. There are many trails that are accessible for kids (Ash Cave, Old Man's Cave, Conkles Hollow, various others). All in all, there's some great hiking. That same hilliness doesn't lend itself to good bicycling though, especially for kids. Cuyahoga Valley is more tame, has a really nice bike path, good hiking (although less scenic), and has more other attractions like the scenic railroad, and some nice small towns.
There's A LOT more camping in Hocking Hills (various state parks - the primary of which is Old Man's Cave campground at Hocking Hills SP, but there are others, as well as state forest and National Forest campgrounds). The only camping I know of at Cuyahoga Valley is for backpackers/overnight-bikers - not car camping - there's one small campground mainly setup for backpackers. There's also Portage Lakes SP just south of Akron, but it's not all that great.
For an interesting place to stay in Akron (not camping), check out the Quaker Square Inn.
