Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Towpath

The 308-mile Ohio and Erie Canal was constructed between 1825 and 1832, creating a route from Lake Erie at Cleveland to the Ohio River at Portsmouth.  Utilizing a towpath along one side of the canal, teams of mules were used to pull canal boats.  Over 80 miles of the towpath in northeast Ohio has been preserved and restored as a trail, with 20 miles in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  We decided to explore the towpath on bicycles.  Century Cycles in Peninsula has a rental fleet and is conveniently located adjacent to the train depot.  Looking at the map, we realized we could catch the train from Peninsula to Rockside Road in Independence and then bike back to Peninsula.  That would still leave us with about a third of the towpath south of Peninsula.  Since the trains wouldn't run until Wednesday, we decided to use the southern section as a trial run to determine if we could bike the thirteen mile northern section.  I thought we had reached the southern end of the park when we came to the entrance sign pictured above at Bath Road, so we turned around and headed back to Peninsula.  The pictures below are geographically from north to south.

Towpath bridge over Cuyahoga River in Peninsula

Lock 28 - "Deep Lock" with a 17 foot lift

Lock 27 - "Johnnycakes Lock"

Foundation for aqueduct over Furnace Run

Cuyahoga River

Boardwalk through the Beaver Marsh

Lock 26

Remains of Lock 25 wall - "Mudcatcher Lock"

Lock 24 wall and wasteway

After our return to Peninsula, we consulted with bike shop employees and determined that we had ridden about 13 miles for the day.  The park actually continues south of the entrance sign about another one-half mile.  

Since we had no ill effects from the ride, we decided to take advantage of the "Bike Aboard!" program a couple of days later.  We again rented bicycles from Century Cycles and boarded the first northbound train to Rockside Road Station.  The train was pulled by locomotive 6777, a Montreal Locomotive Works diesel-electric model FPA-4 that was originally built for the Canadian National Railway.  The towpath was not immediately visible from the station, so it took us a few minutes to realize that we had to cross the river via Old Rockside Road.  A couple of strategically placed signs would be helpful.  The pictures below are also arranged geographically from north to south.

Looking north down West Canal Street with Towpath on the right

Lock 39

Numerous sturdy benches have been constructed along the towpath

2010 Aqueduct over Tinkers Creek

Lock 37

Alexander's Mill in operation since 1855
and operated as Wilson's Feed Mill since 1900

Frazee House 1826

Pinery diversion dam and Chippewa Road Bridge

Lock 35 - "Whiskey Lock"

Remains of the Jaite paper mill fourdrinier machine

Cuyahoga River - "Crooked RIver"

Typical condition of the Towpath Trail

Towpath leading to Boston Store

Cuyahoga River flowing under I-271

Towpath boardwalk through "Stumpy Basin"

Lock 31 - "Lonesome Lock" showing the concrete refurbishment of 1900

One of two "tunnels" for the towpath to pass under the railroad

Northern end of Lock 29

Southern end of Lock 29 with abutments for aqueduct over the Cuyahoga River

The towpath is a wonderful resource that provides the key feature of the park.  There are about a dozen trailheads for easy access to any section.  Since the Century Cycles contract limits the route to the Ohio & Erie Canal towpath, I would recommend bringing your own bike to take advantage of the myriad combination (bike and hike) trails in the area.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm.  
The towpath website is http://www.ohioanderiecanalway.com/Main/Home.aspx.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Railroad

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad operates in partnership with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The National Park Service owns the tracks and the CVSR owns and operates the trains.  The trains run year round on the weekends and Wednesday through Sunday during the summer.  An all-day ticket to ride the regular train is $15, a one-way ticket for hikers is $9 and a one-way ticket for bikers is a fantastic bargain at only $2.  Special trains are significantly more expensive.  Due to the suggestion of a volunteer at the Canal Visitor Center, we had the good fortune to see the fortieth anniversary special steam train during our visit to the park.  Our vantage point was the Station Road wrought-iron truss bridge across the Cuyahoga River just south of the Chippewa Road / West Aurora Road concrete arch bridge.  In addition, we rode the train from Peninsula to Rockside and then rode bicycles back to Peninsula on the canal towpath. 

CVSR 6777 Montreal Locomotive Works FPA-4

Indigo Lake Station

Northbound train arriving at Peninsula

Bicycle Baggage Car

Interior of Bike Aboard passenger car

Rockside Road Station

Train crew at Rockside Road

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm.  
The railroad website is http://www.cvsr.com/.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Visitor Centers

In early September 2012, we took a week-long trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  This was our fifth new national park to visit in 2012 and my thirty-second overall.  The park is located between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and it ranks in the top ten by visitation.  While there are no grand vistas like many of the western parks, this park provides a great variety of outdoor activities within a major metropolitan area.  To cover these activities in some detail will require several posts.  This park offers a multitude of activities that already have us planning our next visit.

The park has four visitor centers.  The northernmost is Canal Visitor Center at the intersection of Canal Road and Hillside Road.  Refurbished lock 38 is immediately in front of the building.  At several locks, small shops were built to provide travelers with needed items.  The visitor center is housed in a period store that gave the area the name “Hell’s Half Acre”.  Inside are a theater with a movie about the creation of the park and a model of a working lock which is demonstrated by a ranger.  

Canal Visitor Center from the Towpath

Boston Store is the main visitor center and is centrally located in the park at the intersection of Boston Mills Road and Riverview Road.  Inside are exhibits on the history of the canal and on the construction of canal boats that includes timbers from an archeological site on the canal.  This visitor center is also adjacent to the canal towpath.  Adjacent to the visitor center is the M. D. Garage, an old Pure gasoline filling station that has been converted into a location for themed weekend art exhibits.

Boston Store Visitor Center

M. D. Garage art gallery

Just a couple of miles further south is the Peninsula Depot Visitor Center.  As the name implies, it is housed in the old Peninsula railroad depot.  Inside are a restored telegraph office and other exhibits about the railroad.  This visitor center is across the Cuyahoga River from the lock 29, but the towpath is easily accessible.

Peninsula Depot Visitor Center

A few miles further south is the Hunt Farm Visitor Information Center located on Bolanz Road near Riverview Road.  This small farmhouse is also adjacent to the towpath.

Hunt Farm Visitor Information Center

All four visitor centers are opened daily during the summer, but scale back operating days in the other seasons.  Only Boston Store is open daily year round.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm.  

Cades Cove and Rich Mountain Road

We were successful on our second attempt to visit Cades Cove in early August 2012.  Due to the extremely slow traffic on the south side of the loop, we chose to cut back across the cove on Hyatt Lane and exit the cove via the gravel Rich Mountain Road.  Below are some views from both the cove and the mountain.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.

Foothills Parkway GSMNP

In early August 2012 we took another drive through the Smokies.  Our intent was to visit Cades Cove again, but the weather turned stormy and foggy.  We chose to visit the western section of the Foothills Parkway instead.  The parkway is administered as part of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  Although authorized by Congress in 1944, only three short sections of the overall 70 mile parkway have been completed.  While our visibility was limited, we did have some wonderful views of the fog and clouds on the mountains.  In addition, we had the opportunity to view a small unnamed roadside cascade that is usually dry this time of year.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.