September 4, 2014

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Just as we were getting in the Jeep to leave for our day trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Monte asked if I thought we should bring our bikes.  I said we should plan on walking but if he wanted to bring the bikes it was okay with me.  He said forget it.

When we arrived at the Park, we discovered there are nearly 16 miles of asphalt bikes trails.  I guess we should have brought the bikes.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park consists of 33,000 acres along 22 miles of the crooked river between Cleveland and Akron. 

American Indians called the Cuyahoga River, Ka-ih-ogh-ha, meaning crooked.  It twists and turns through 90 miles.

The Cuyahoga River was an important transportation route for American Indians.  The area was deemed neutral territory by historic tribes so all might travel safely from the Great Lakes water to the short portage across the divide to the Ohio River.

It was already lunchtime by the time we arrived at our first stop, the Boston Store Visitor Center so we ate lunch at a picnic table located near the parking lot. 

 

Monte noticed this hawk in a nearby tree watching us.

After we ate, we went inside the visitor center

 to get a brochure and stamp my passport. 

There are several visitor centers in the park with exhibits.  The Boston Store Visitor Center is a restored 1836 structure on the canal towpath at Boston Mills. 

 It contains exhibits on the craft of building canal boats. 

 

 

In the 1600s, when European trappers and explorers arrived, they put the Cuyahoga River on the map.  Settlers moved in and realized the potential of the river as a source of livelihood. 

In 1827, the Ohio & Erie Canal, between Cleveland and Akron, replaced the river as the primary transportation artery.  Part of a national system of canals connecting the East Coast and the Midwest, the canal launched Midwest commercial development and enabled farmers to ship agricultural products to eastern markets.

Construction on the canal took two years of hand digging to complete the section from Cleveland to Akron.  Dug largely by Irish and German immigrants, the four-foot-deep ditch stretched 308 miles to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. 

By 1832, passengers could travel via the canal from Cleveland to Cincinnati in 80 hours, a trip that had once taken weeks.

Other businesses grew along the canal.  People built stores and taverns.

As a result, Cleveland and Akron flourished with more people moving in looking for jobs. 

Our next stop was the Canal Visitor Center located in a restored building once known as Hell’s Half Acre next to Lock 38. 

 The structure, built in the late 1820s, served at various times as a tavern, general store, and residence.

Exhibits include try-on canal-era clothing, photographs, artwork, maps, artifacts, and newspaper articles about the canal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice box

 

 

 

As we were leaving the center we saw a sign advertising Bike Aboard.

  This is a service where from June through October, Wednesday through Sunday, cyclists ride for $3 one way on the train.  Now we really were sorry we hadn’t brought along the bikes.

 

 

 

Continuing along our next stop was at the Station Road Bridge, the oldest remaining metal truss bridge in the Cuyahoga Valley. 

 

 

 

 

It was built in 1881 and served travelers for almost 100 years.

In 1992 the bridge was disassembled and shipped to Elmira, New York where bridge restoration specialists repaired it, then reassembled it.

 

 

 

Our last stop in the park was at Lock 29 that now serves as one of the trailheads on the bike and hike trail. 

 

 

 

 

The leaves on some trees are changing colors already and some trees have begun to lose leaves- a sure sign autumn is approaching.

Because we departed the park at a different location than we entered the GPS routed us through Akron-during the peak of rush hour. 

The traffic wasn’t that bad until we entered the highway and came to a dead stop.  We inched our way to the next exit and took a different route through towns, including Kent. 

We were very impressed as we drove past the University by its size and architectural beauty. 

Those old enough might remember that the University was the site of what is now known as the Kent State massacre.  It involved the shooting of unarmed college students by the Ohio National Guard on Monday 4, 1970.  The guardsmen killed four students and wounded nine.  Some of the students who had been shot had been protesting against the Cambodian Campaign while some of the students had been observing from a distance or just walking nearby.