Saturday, April 23, 2016

T is for Towpath Trail

Cleveland is Cooler Than You Think!
All over the media, in tv and movies, Cleveland gets made fun of. In this year's A-Z Challenge, I'm here to show you everything Cleveland has to offer!


T is for Towpath Trail

Canal boat being guided by horses, 1902 (Photo: Wikipedia)

In the 1820's-1830's the Ohio and Erie Canal was built to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio River. This was the final link to complete the inland water route from New York City all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.
After the Civil War the costs of maintaining the canal were becoming too great and then in 1913 the area suffered unprecedented flooding destroying most of the locks and aqueducts.


Towpath Trail
(photo: Kevin Payravi, Wikimedia Commons)
Today, there is a trail that runs along the entire 110 mile canal system for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or if you prefer you can take a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad which seems to take you back in time as it ambles through the Cuyahoga National Forest, little towns and a 19th century working farm.  

This whole area was designated by Congress as one of the 49 National Heritage Areas in the U.S. in order to "preserve and celebrate the rails, trails, towns, landscapes and sites...that helped Ohio and our nation grow."  

Over 2.5 million visitors come each year to discover the hidden beauty the canal trails have to offer.

The Towpath Trail is one of the several trails that runs through the canal system. It is over 85 miles of trail from downtown Cleveland south to New Philadelphia.

We spent one day biking on the Towpath Trail, a couple summers ago and took the Scenic Railway for a short trip, both were a lot of fun for the whole family.



References:
Ohio and Erie Canal Way
Trail head maps
Ohio and Erie Canal Wikipedia



Doggy Style (It's really not what you think!)

My three kids have taken up the habit of naming all the different positions our beagle Rory gets himself into.  Most of the time even I can't quite figure out why they chose the names they did but I thought it might put a smile on everyone's face to share in this silliness!



T is for Towel Pup

Rory doesn't like baths but he hates being toweled off even more so I'm amazed that he sat still for this photo! 



and Torpedo

He lays like this when he's waiting for me to accidentally drop stray veggies while cooking.




Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Kathy :)

3 comments:

  1. Interesting. You can actually get to the Gulf from a little waterway just a couple miles from my house (in Somerset County, PA), but it's way to shallow for boats.

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  2. I bet that biking trail, The Towpath trail, is very interesting. I love biking and would be tempted to bike ride it to see if could bike ride the entire 85 miles.

    As usual, Rory is a beauty in both pictures. I love the one with him wrapped in a towel.

    Visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge.

    Shalom,
    Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

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