It's definitely going to be an all day drive from Niagara Falls to Columbus. I guess you'll be coming across on I-90 into Cleveland's eastern suburbs, and then down 271 and 71 into Columbus. So since you'll be passing right by, I'd echo you might want to take a look at Presque Isle, maybe Geneva-on-the-Lake, and/or Fairport Harbor and the Marine Museum, and/or Headlands State Park. (We called it "Mentor Headlands" when I was a kid.) Past those places, you're just getting into the Cleveland metro area...nothing but freeways and suburbs for a while. The metropolitan parks around Cleveland have always been nice. You aren't visiting Cleveland proper, but if for some reason you do, it has a nice zoo, world-class art and history museums, and of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.They have docked an iron ore boat (also known as a "lake freighter" and it is a museum now.) Given a choice between Cleveland and Detroit, I think Cleveland has much more to offer tourists...but that might be for another trip. It might be just as easy, frankly, if you're going to end up spending the night somewhere between Buffalo and Columbus, if you just check out the parks and beaches on Lake Erie's southern shore, and stay in a chain motel...just for the convenience, and not having to find a campsite and set up your stuff. You never know how long you are going to get stuck at the border...if the day is getting long and you are tired, I wouldn't push it. Walk on the beaches, see what there is to see, and just grab a motel room that looks like it's conveniently located near gas stations and restaurants. I'm wondering, too, if you're going to get into heavier traffic than usual because of the upcoming holiday. Truck traffic gets especially heavy around Erie, PA by the way.