Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail

The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail through Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a nearly level, 19.8-mile point-to-point walk from Lock 39 Trailhead Information to Botzum Trailhead. That figure is one way and covers the park section only; the regional Towpath continues much farther beyond both ends. Walking it end to end is a full-day outing, about nine hours with ordinary stops. The grades are gentle, but almost 20 miles on your feet is the real commitment. It is easy to choose a shorter section instead of turning the whole route into an out-and-back.

For the complete walk, start at the northern Lock 39 access and finish at Botzum to the south. Leave a car at each end or arrange a pickup. The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad offers one-way Towpath service for hikers, runners, and cyclists, but check its current schedule before building the day around it. Intermediate trailheads make shorter one-way walks possible, and you can also walk out and back from any access point. With access points spaced along the route, you can choose a section that suits your day.

The path traces the old canal towpath where it remains, with newer trail sections filling gaps where time erased the original line. From 1825 to 1832, the Ohio & Erie Canal connected Lake Erie at Cleveland with the Ohio River at Portsmouth. Mules hauled boats along this route from 1827 until 1913, carrying Ohio farm goods toward eastern markets. Today the firm, mostly level path alternates among paved sections, packed stone, bridges, and boardwalks. The canal and its ruins keep the historic route visible even when the waterway itself is gone.

At Lock 39, look for the remains of a waste weir, which released excess water from a canal kept about four feet deep. Farther south, the Canal Exploration Center sits beside reconstructed Lock 38; the nearby Tinkers Creek Aqueduct carried canal water over the creek rather than sending boats down into the valley. The mill across the canal used waterpower to grind grain until 1970, making it another reminder that this was working country. At Lock 36, exhibits explain how removal of two historic dams in 2020 returned that stretch of the Cuyahoga River to free flow, with water now sent into the canal by the Pinery Feeder.

Near Ira Trailhead, the towpath reaches the roughly 70-acre Beaver Marsh and becomes a boardwalk through wetland. A west-facing platform gives you a place to stop and watch without leaving the established path. The marsh grew from former farmland and an auto salvage yard into habitat after cleanup and the return of beavers. More than 50 bird species nest here in a typical year, and the mix of nesting birds, spring migrants, and fall waterfowl changes with the seasons. This section can be busy with cyclists as well as people stopping to look around.

Walkers, runners, and cyclists share the towpath, and horses use some sections; keep right and yield to horses. Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than six feet. Restrooms, benches, maps, and picnic tables are available at selected access points, not continuously along the trail. Boston Store has refreshments and porch seating near the Boston section, so it works as a break rather than a dependable service for the whole route.

For a much smaller taste of the canal, start at Canal Exploration Center and walk out to Tinkers Creek Aqueduct and back, about one mile round trip. It is level, has benches, and still gives you a lock, the old canal line, and the aqueduct in one easy outing. The longer Towpath rewards time and curiosity, but the route's many access points make it simple to choose only the stretch that fits your day.