Ohio & Erie Canalway
The Ohio & Erie Canalway America’s Byway approximates travel alongside the historic path of the Ohio & Erie Canal, the nation's first inland waterway link between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, the Byway preserves and follows not only the path of the canal itself, but chronicles the evolution of transportation systems in this region of America and many of the industries which developed in conjunction with these systems.
Wherever possible, the Byway follows the path of the old Ohio & Erie Canal from Dover to Cleveland - which is why you’ll often find it traveling next to the Towpath Trail as well as a later form of transportation - the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
Driving the length of the America’s Byway offers a storybook of images that tell the history of the Ohio & Erie Canalway, from a southern frame of greenery - farm fields, nature preserves, river corridors - to a northern landscape where a complex matrix of pipes and bridges, smokestacks, and fire red brick buildings dominate.
Twenty miles of its route drives directly through the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park - one of our country’s Top 10 most visited National Parks. The remnants of the Ohio & Erie Canal and the associated structures, towns and villages, architectural styles spanning nearly 200 years, countless natural environments and the evidence and expressions of many customs and traditions from thousands of years of human settlement are other scenic viewsheds provided along our signed Byway route. Learn more in the Byway Management Plan in the Related Links section below.