Ohio And Erie Canal

The Ohio and Erie Canal is a canal that has been built in the 1820s and early 1830s and which passed the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Ohio Erie Canal was built as to connect Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its mouth on Lake Erie, in Cuyahoga County in Cleveland. A few years later after the project was started, it was extended as to continue connecting Akron with the Ohio River near Portsmouth in Scioto County and then to connect to the other canal systems in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The canal became officially accessible in 1827 and it has been used for carried freight traffic until 1861 when railroads and their development killed the market. This is why until 1913 the canal was used as a water source to industries and towns. In 1923 the canal was largely abandoned as most of its important parts were destroyed by flooding. Today, the remaining portions of the canal are mostly used for recreational purposes, although it still provides water for some industries. Parts of it are preserved and some of them such as the Ohio and Erie Canal Historic District are US National Historic landmarks.

The Ohio and Erie Canal is nowadays much most popular for the Ohio Erie Canal towpath trail, an all-purpose bicycle/pedestrian trail which has been built by the Cuyahoga Valley National Park with the aim of following the original Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath route. The route of Erie Canal is regarded by many visitors as an important attraction as it is one of the oldest routes in the area which combines education and recreation at the same time. Although there is not much left from the economic purposes of this canal, it has nowadays become one of the places where people want to go to relax and enjoy wilderness.