• Image of bluebells in the spring

    Cuyahoga Valley

    National Park Ohio

There are park alerts in effect.
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  • Canal Visitor Center Closure

    Canal Visitor Center will be closed for construction, starting Monday, May 6, 2013. It will reopen with new exhibits in early 2014.

  • Riverview Road Closure

    Riverview Rd from the Cuyahoga Falls line north to the Peninsula line will be re-paved, beginning the week of April 22. Expect delays. Flaggers will direct traffic. Work is expected to be completed by Memorial Day weekend.

  • Towpath Trail Closure

    NPS has closed the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail from Hillside Road to Stone Road in Valley View. A section of the trail is not passable due to hazardous conditions caused by erosion. Towpath is expected to be open by Memorial Day, May 27.

  • Bald Eagle Closure in Effect

    RR tracks, and 30 foot right of way on either side, are closed to all foot traffic from the Rt. 82 Bridge at Station Rd, north to the RR tracks at. The Cuyahoga R. downstream of the Brecksville Dam to the Fitzwater Rd Bridge is closed to water activities.

Horses

Horse in field.

©Tom Jones

Horses have served multiple purposes on Cuyahoga Valley farms. Horses have pulled carts and ploughs, taken tourists on carriage rides, been raised and sold, been boarded for other owners, and become beloved companions for farm children.

Peggy and Tress Pittenger devoted much of their lives to raising, selling, and boarding horses at their farm, Blackacre, on Quick Road. Peggy worked hard to turn Blackacre into a thriving horse breeding business, while also writing popular books on how to raise horses. Peggy, Tress, and their three children learned that a successful horse farm requires hard work, persistence, and a little good luck.

In 2011, their son David Pittenger composed a history of his family farm for the National Park Service. Click to read more about the Blackacre Farm.

 
Oral history audio.
In Their Own Words
Click the topics to hear stories about Cuyahoga Valley life.

Peggy's Horses (1 minute 38 seconds)
Philip Urbank, who grew up on Quick Road, tells a story about Peggy Pittenger and her horses.

Horse Fairs (20 seconds)
Until recently, Ronnie Meyers and his father Willis bought, sold, and trained Belgian horses for special competitions.

Horse-Drawn Vehicles (32 seconds)
At the Carriage Trade Farm, owner Wade Johnson continues his grandfather's tradition of raising horses and offering sleigh and hayrides near Brandywine Falls.



Did You Know?

Photo of Bald Eagle taken in Cuyahoga Valley National Park where an eagle pair built their first nest in 2006. Photo by Martin Trimmer.

November is the time to be on the lookout for bald eagles performing aerial courtship displays. Once eagles have selected each other, they plunge through the air in very high dives, locking their talons and breaking apart just when it looks as though they will crash to the ground.