Akron Metropolitan Area

Understand

Summit County was created by an act of Congress on March 3, 1840. It was formed from Medina County, Portage County, and two townships from Stark County. Summit County is named because the highest elevation on the Ohio and Erie Canal was located here. Summit County is the only of Ohio's 88 counties that has a charter government.

Regions

Includes Portage County and Summit County

Cities

• Akron, the County Seat of Summit County, has made the transition from the America's tire manufacturing hub to its high-tech Polymers Research Center. It is also the home of the All-American Soap Box Derby.
• Barberton
• Cuyahoga Falls just north of Akron sits atop the waterfalls of the Cuyahoga River.
• Fairlawn is the commercial mecca on the northwest side of Akron and was home of many of the pioneers of the rubber industry, such as the Goodyear, Seiberling and Firestone families.
• Hudson is a picturesque Western Reserve town, located between Cleveland and Akron.
• Northfield
• Norton
• Peninsula is a historic town tucked away in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and is one of the stops of the Cuyahoga Valley Rail.
• Richfield
• Stow
• Tallmadge
• Ravenna is the County Seat of Portage County, just east of Kent.
• Atwater
• Aurora has a historic town center and the Aurora Farms Outlet Center.
• Garretsville Village
• Kent home of Kent State University, is a quaint town with a very diverse community and is home to the annual Folk Music Festival.
• Streetsboro
• Sagamore Hills

Other destinations

• Portage Lakes State Park, Akron, has fishing, hunting, beach, five miles of hiking trails, volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, basketball court, hunting waterfowl..
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park
• West Branch State Park, Ravenna, has year-round fishing, hunting, a lake, hiking trails, bridle trails, horse camp, playground and volleyball court

Get in

By plane

Akron-Canton Regional Airport (CAK). Fly into (AKC) if you can - small, easy to navigate, quick in-and-out.

By bus

Greyhound in Akron

Get around

Summit County is easy to navigate, considering that four of Ohio's major highways run through Summit County.

• I-77 starts in Cleveland, goes through Marietta, and ends in Columbia, South Carolina. In Summit County, I-77 runs North and South through Richfield, Bath, Fairlawn, Copley, Akron, and Green.
• I-76 begins at its intersection with I-71, near Seville, Ohio, and ends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In Summit County, I-76 runs East and West through Norton, Barberton, Kenmore, Akron, the Goodyear Heights area, the Ellet area, and Mogadore.
• I-271 starts at its intersection with I-71, in Medina, Ohio, and ends at I-90, near Willoughby Hills, Ohio. In Summit County, I-271 runs southwest to northeast through Richfield, Boston Township, Boston Heights, and Macedonia.
• I-80 begins in San Francisco, California, and ends near Fort Lee, New Jersey, outside of New York City. In Summit County, I-80, also known as the Ohio Turnpike for its duration in Ohio, runs East and West, through Richfield, Peninsula (no exit), and Hudson. The Ohio Turnpike is a toll road.
• Ohio State Route 8 begins in Cleveland and ends at the I-76 and I-77 interchange in Akron. Route 8 becomes a highway near Northfield and connects the eastern side of the county with I-77 and I-76. Route 8 runs North and South in Summit County through Northfield, Macedonia, Boston Heights, Silver Lake, Cuyahoga Falls, and Akron.