Biking the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail was our goal today. It is one of our favorite trails, and is in the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in northern Ohio. We love this trail so much, this is our third time cycling it – in 2017, 2019, and now 2022.
We biked 26 miles of the towpath this year on May 19. The crushed limestone trail was in great shape, even after a lot of rain the night before, and the biking conditions were perfect. Trees, vegetation, wildlife, and the Cuyahoga River gives you the very real experience of being in nature.
The trail is on the historical towpath where mules once pulled boats on the canal from 1827 to 1913. Remnants of dozens of those locks continue to tell the story of its history, as iron ore from the middle of Ohio was pulled north to Cleveland via towpath and canal.
A fun stop along the route is the community of Peninsula, once a hub of canal activity and now a station on the popular Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. It has restaurants, art and antiques shops, and historical homes. We enjoyed the visitor center, the bike store, and of course a beverage at the Winking Lizard Café.
This entire trail is 83 miles long and links up with the Ohio-to-Erie trail system from Cincinnati to Cleveland. Since it is another three-night stay for us, we’ll get two days of cycling in this area.
PS: We drove to Streetsboro, Ohio (near Cleveland) on Wednesday, for three-nights camping at the KOA there. We verified earlier in the week that their cable TV has the precious TNT HD channel and that night we thoroughly enjoyed watching the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the western conference basketball playoffs. It rained most of the night, and we woke to a splendid sunny day to cycle!
Please enjoy Sue’s ReLive video of our ride embedded here: