End of the Line

My friend Ben and I packed up our bikes and decided to find the Southern end of the Towpath - which we did - both the official end and an un-official end a little further beyond. We camped at a very cool campsite outside of Massillon on the first night and a few of our friends joined us that evening. In the morning we all said our goodbyes as Ben and I continued on south and everyone else headed back north. The next night we camped at a family campground about 5 miles down country roads outside New Philadelphia. In the morning we rode the whole way back - 70 miles for me from the campground to my door. It was a blast and I learned a ton about bike-packing. More details on our stops and experience follow. 

We met up at Akron Coffee Roasters to fuel ourselves for the ride - AJ, the owner, joined us at the campsite that evening.

I've written about Clinton's sad little downtown before - but we had to stop for a photo at the Covered Bridge Drive-Thru.

My "touring" bike is quite the Frankenstein. The frame and fork are from a late 70s French bike, the handle bars and 80s Japanese bike, a used English Brooks saddle, cranks from a mid-80s Schwinn, with new wheels and cassette. I've ridden this bike a ton since I built it up in April but this was the first time fully weighted down. It handled well.

It sure seems like Clinton could have a cool little downtown - a bar, coffee shop, café, Air Bnb?

We re-fueled in Canal Fulton at the Miller-Doan Tavern.

Back on the road - a funny looking horse was pulling the Canal Boat.

Canal Cruise

Ben and his much more modern bike.

We had all day to get to Massillon so we stopped at our favorite Towpath dive - which is now under new ownership and lots of improvements are in the works.

It was a hot trip and a few Buds in the AC were nice. We had a great chat with the new owner too.

Campsite along the path. I wish I took a photo showing how the site overlooks the Tuscarawas River.

We cruised into town and some beers at Paradigm Shift Brewery that were great. We waited out what looked to be a passing storm but the rain never came. We were having such a fun conversation with some locals on the patio of the brewery that I never remembered to get any photos of the spot. Next we went and bought firewood, beer and hotdogs and headed back to the campsite passing all the gathering crowds for the fireworks. When we arrived back at camp it was clear it had rained but somehow missed us on our bikes.

The rest of the crew arrived after dark.


Morning Fire

The river is beyond the fence.

The Crew

The Whips

There wasn't much open in Massillon for lunch - and we choose this un-inspiring option.

A quick directions check. The path split and we went the wrong way - but were back on track very quickly.

Our next stop was in Bolivar at Lockport Brewing - we had heard good things about them and they didn't disappoint.


The Fourth

A Flight - again we enjoyed some AC time. Everyone thought we were crazy for being out in that heat and humidity, but to be honest, most of the Towpath is shaded and when your are moving the constant breeze makes it not so bad.


Quick shots before we were off to find the end of the path.

So the maintained Towpath ended at a bike lane on a road - there was a sign that said Canal Path that we turned at and a historical marker for this iron truss bridge. There wasn't anymore signage after that but we rode a path along the river and figured it had to be the right direction.

I took some phone photos as we rode on but it was too rough and took too much concentration to pull the camera out. It went from dirt road with puddles to a gravel road after we passed a dam. Its not a stretch you would want to ride on a pure road bike. We found out later this stretch is called the Zoar Valley Trail - and I guess at some point it will be part of the Towpath. It comes to an abrupt end a few miles from New Philly - again - with no signage.

We set up our tents at the campsite, bought some wood, went for a swim and then headed into town for dinner. We actually found a great place to eat - debated another beer- but decided we should hit the 5 miles back to camp along the country road while there was still light.

Back to New Philly in the morning for breakfast before the long trek home - we were good at finding seats with our bikes in view.





Our ride home was long and we were a little sore - but one miraculous thing happened. We never got wet! We could see storms around us, we dodged puddles, and heard it poured back at home - but we always stayed dry.

I took this shot at our final water stop outside of Barberton. I rolled into home tired and ready for a shower but very satisfied with the fun we had and how much I learned about bike-packing. When I got out of the shower and looked outside it was storming like crazy.