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Exploring Early Life on the Canal!
  • Estimated Time: 3-4 hours
  • Travel Components: Towpath Trail, Byway
  • Special Interest: All
  • Starting Point: Cuyahoga County
  • Ending Point: Cuyahoga County
  • Cost: Quest: Free; Meal/Ice Cream Optional
  • Submitted By: Nancy Desmond, Ohio & Erie Canalway Interpretive Coordinator

Quest — Hell’s Half-Acre Quest & More!

 
Remember to download the Quest from the Questing Activity page page before you go — or pick up a copy inside the Visitor Center.

Head for Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Canal Visitor Center (7104 Canal Rd. at Canal and Hillside Roads, Valley View, 44125) to explore early life on the canal. The Hell's Half-Acre Quest will take you on a walking tour and give you an explanation of the grounds while you learn about the hustle and bustle of living at a lock in the 19th century.

Visitor Tip: Download the Quest before you go! Or, you can pick up a copy at the Visitor Center.

Next, head inside the Canal Visitor Center to see exhibits that tell more of our canal-era story and a working model that shows you how a lock works. The building survives from the canal era and has a story all its own.

Check summer hours (typically 10 a.m.–4 p.m., daily) and you may see one of the live lock demonstrations by interpretive rangers dressed in period clothing. The Towpath Trail is right there — waiting for a stroll or bike ride after your Questing experience.

If you worked up an appetite you can ride your bike or drive just about two miles north on the America’s Byway — Canal Road in this section — to Thornburg Station. You’ll find it at the intersection of Rockside and Canal Roads, where restaurants and an ice cream shop are happy to serve you!

For hours and lock demos, click here.

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