Akron Ohio

Our main purpose for venturing to Akron was to see a National Park we had never been to before. But since we were there, we decided to take in the Peter Wolf Toth Whispering Giant located in nearby Fairlawn. Rotaynah, Toth’s 51^st native American sculpture, was supposed to be at Resnik Community Learning Center, however as with some others we have searched for, it was removed to storage last year due weathering and termites. We wished we had visited in time as it was impressive.

We had been to Cleveland long ago, but Cuyahoga Valley National Park was just a National Recreation area at the time. It only moved to National Park status in 2000. Basically, stretching from the southern edges of Cleveland to the northern edges of Akron, the Park is a patched together areas of heavy forest, impressive rivers and much wildlife. 

We hiked to Brandywine falls carved by the creek of the same name. Luckily, we encountered a platform at the top of the falls and were able to see the source – the Brandywine Creek. We also got to climb down to a platform near the base of the falls for a far better view. Near the base of the falls, we saw a lot of foundation ruins where generations of the past had built industry and power generation as well as other industry that flourished in that time era.

A sgnature attraction of the Park is Ohio Erie Canal tow way path. Between 1825 and 1832 a canal was between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. The canal was dug by hand, and through its entire 110-mile length and its 152 hand operated concrete locks, it was 26 feet wide at its base, 40 feet wide at the top, and a minimum water depth of 4 feet, an unbelievable human endeavor. By accomplishing this, the agricultural and industrial ambitions of Ohio were connected by water from New York City to New Orleans. 

The canal boats that made their way hauling mainly goods but also some passengers were not powered. Alongside the canal was a path where horse or mule teams pulled the boats through the canal. There was even one spot where the canal went through what looked very much like a train tunnel, with still the path on the side for the pulling teams. Today, that path has been groomed and made into a biking and hiking path through the Park.

We started at the Boston Store visitor center, a restored historical inn that stood on the canal in the 1800’s. Whatever historical buildings that were viable within the Park have been renovated and are now used as educational sites for Park visitors. We thoroughly enjoyed biking the tow way path, first biking north and then biking south. The path is mostly shaded so it was not very hot.

Also passing through much of the park is the Cuyahoga Scenic Railway. The rail lines very much follow along the path of the Ohio and Erie Canal. Another well liked attraction is the bike rail options that the Railway offers. Since it follows the tow way path, you can bike the length of the path within the Park, and then hope the train to return. Had we known this ahead of time (basically tickets sell out well in advance) we might have tried this way, but we had to settle for just riding the tow way path the old fashion way.

We managed to locate a couple of other interesting things to check out while we were here. Still in the Cuyahoga Valley but just outside the Park boundaries is what has been called the Signal Tree. Out west pioneers used immense geologic structures as signposts to know they were going the right way, like we mentioned about Scotts Bluff in Nebraska. We, in areas where there were little or no distinctive geologic features, native Americans found distinctive trees to use as way markings. This Signal Tree pointed the way for folks back in the 1600’s, as it is over 300 years old.

Even though we couldn’t tour it, we had to try and see this at least from the outside. In 1929, the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation built what it called and “Airdock” here to hold its lighter than air ships while they were being constructed. At the time it was built, it was the largest building in the world that did not have internal supports. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1980 it was designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Engineers. But, we just thought it was too cool to pass up.

Talk to you soon.