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Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center
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Host your next gathering in Cuyahoga Valley National Park!
The Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center is a 500-acre private campus situated in the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is surrounded by miles of trails, wetlands and ponds, and woodlands.
The Education Center is the perfect space for groups of all kinds such as sports teams, church and spiritual groups, yoga retreats, and more. We offer two campuses with dormitory-style bunk beds, accommodating 25 to 64 overnight guests. All-purpose gathering and meeting spaces are also included. The campus accommodates up to 128 people on site and offers a full kitchen staff serving three hot meals a day. Choose from preparing your own food at our White Pines Campus, or have our chefs cook delicious meals for your group at either location. We use locally grown, sustainable produce as well as grow our own vegetable in our hoop garden.
Your group can explore the beauty of Cuyahoga Valley National Park on the connecting trails and build a fire outdoors in the pit. We have several programming options available such as day hikes and night hikes.
If you are interested in learning more about hosting your retreat or conference at the Environmental Education Center, please click the button below to fill out an inquiry form. After receiving your information, we will be in touch!
Request More Information on Retreats/Conferences
For additional information, pricing, and availability, please contact: 330 657 2796 ext 1110.
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Lipscomb Campus
The buildings on the James S. Lipscomb Campus were part of the historic John H. Gilson farmstead. The core of the main house (the brick part) was built in 1854. You can see the date etched in stone above the doorway, broken up with the initials JHG for John H. Gilson. The core of the barn was built in the mid-1800s as well. In addition to farming, John Gilson served as local postmaster. This house dates to the same time period as the Jonathan Hale farm preserved at Hale Farm and Village. In 1877, while returning from visiting neighbors with his wife, John Gilson drowned while trying to ford Furnace Run. His tragic death led the community to construct Everett Covered Bridge.
The structures on the Lipscomb Campus were elaborately remodeled in the late 1970s and 80s. The historic frame barn was converted into a guest house in 1979, and the property was acquired by the National Park Service in 1983. It was used on a limited basis for environmental education programming. Teacher workshops and University of Akron college courses met in the barn, and student congresses for the Cuyahoga River Water Monitoring Project were held there.
All the buildings in the immediate area of the administration building are around 50 years old (or less) and were the first buildings acquired by the park. After acquisition, the house was first used by the park as a dormitory for seasonal staff.
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White Pines Campus
The dorm on this campus was once a private house, built in 1963, with a nearby garage built in 1965. The property was acquired by the National Park Service in 1981. A barn was also part of the property, but it was unusable and thus demolished. The barn was reconstructed, however, to provide classroom space—the only new building on-site. The new building was designed to look like a barn and preserve the historic character of the campus, with the “silo” of the new building acting as a wheelchair lift. The house was extensively remodeled, with an entirely new exterior and substantial changes inside. The fireplace in the dining room is one of the few features remaining from the former building. The two sides of the fireplace were once in different rooms, however.
Tom Jones
“Our school has used the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center for an overnight retreat multiple times and the children, as well as the adults, have chosen to return. The accommodations are splendid: comfortable, inviting, well-kept, and safe. The National Park is a beauty. The staff has always been friendly and helpful from the moment we signed up to after the event was over. It’s only a half-hour from our school, which makes the bus trip easy. We have already signed up for next year!”
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Contact Us
Tel 330.657.2909
Fax 330.657.2328
1403 West Hines Hill Road
Peninsula, Ohio 44264
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