Ohio to Erie Trail Day 6: Massillon to Akron (31 Miles)
From Canal Towns to Portage Paths: A Day That Will Stay with Me
Some days on tour blur together, but others leave an imprint you can’t shake. Day 6 of my Ohio to Erie Trail ride was one of those days: a ride through canal towns, across Native American portage paths, and into the heart of Akron.
Trading Railbeds for a Canal Towpath
The Ohio to Erie Trail is more than just a ride across the state of Ohio. it’s a journey through layers of history. This week began on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, following railroad corridors to Massillon. Today, the story shifted again. Before the railroads, it was canals that fueled Ohio’s growth, carrying goods and people across the young state. On Day 6, we traded rails for the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath, pedaling north toward Akron on the same path where mules once pulled canal boats.
The shift in surfaces was immediate, with smooth pavement giving way to crushed limestone under a canopy of green. To the right, the canal. To the left, the Tuscarawas River. The rhythm was peaceful, carrying us through time as much as through miles.
A short construction detour sent us across the river onto the Olde Muskingum Trail for three miles before we rejoined the towpath south of Canal Fulton. Few places illustrate canal heritage better than this town, with its watered canal, canal boat, visitor center, and charming downtown.
Exploring History Off the Trail
I like to show fellow trail riders what lies just beyond the path. In Clinton, half a mile off the trail, we visited the Ohio Veterans Memorial Park. Its granite Vietnam Memorial wall is striking, with Ohio’s fallen etched into stone. Surrounding it, a tank, a helicopter, and a medic jeep speak to the service and sacrifice of generations. It’s a solemn but meaningful detour, and one well worth taking.
Farther north, we reached the southern terminus of the Native American portage across present-day Akron. Here, waters divide; waters on the south flow to the Ohio River, and on the north, waters flow to Lake Erie. Centuries ago, canoes were carried from this high point to the Cuyahoga River in the Merriman Valley. At Manchester Road, we stopped to admire a bronze statue of a Native American portaging a canoe, a reminder of the first travelers along this land. Tomorrow we’ll meet its twin at the northern end of the portage.
Urban Transformation
As we approached Akron, the trail revealed more transformations. The floating towpath at Summit Lake now connects to a Summit Metroparks nature center and trailside amenities. Downtown’s Lock 3 has been reimagined as a gathering place for the community. We sped past, following the canal downhill into the Cascade Valley before turning off toward our accommodations in the Northside Arts and Entertainment District.
It was our shortest day in miles, but it never felt short on discovery.
Reflections of the Ride
This tour has unfolded in decreasing daily mileage—72, 60, 53, 40, 38, and now 30 miles. But the length of a day’s ride isn’t what defines a tour. What matters are the layers of experience, the moments off the bike, the places explored, the histories absorbed.
Today also felt like a homecoming. Before moving to central Ohio, these were my local trails. To ride them again was to see both what has endured and what has changed. The canal system once powered Ohio’s rise; now its towpath powers a different kind of movement: recreation, exploration, and connection.
As John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” This trail is proof. What was once a Native American passage became a canal, then an industrial rail corridor, and now a place of recreation and renewal.
The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail is the latest chapter in a 200-year-old story, one that stretches even further back through Native American portage paths. Today, we rode through history, not just along a trail. And it’s a ride that will always stay with me
