Don Howdyshell braves a stretch of Class 5 rapids created in downtown Cuyahoga Falls by a dam's removal. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — In the heart of a business district, a kayak is tumbling 65 feet down the Cuyahoga River in a half mile of rapids.

Just upstream, high schoolers are sitting along a boardwalk, sketching the scenic river.

Fifty years ago on June 22, Cleveland’s stretch of a gunky, stinky Cuyahoga had its best-known fire, spurring the Clean Water Act and a half-century of cleanup. Now a resurging river and its corridor teem with fish, turtles, herons, paddlers, hikers, diners and more.

The difference is dramatic in the several miles that flow through Cuyahoga Falls to the Merriman Valley, where that suburb mingles with Akron and the river swings north toward the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

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Students from Cuyahoga Falls' Woodridge High sketch a resurging river. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

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In Cuyahoga Falls’ downtown this year, 17 new stores have opened or scheduled openings. No statistics are available for the Merriman Valley, but it boasts a bike store and many restaurants serving hungry, thirsty travelers from the Cuyahoga and the 101-mile long Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath.

What’s more, riverside parks have multiplied some 15-fold in this area. On a typical recent weekend, Cascade Metro Park, located partly on a former dump, hosted hikers, cricketeers, lacrosse players and more.

The national park is planning a Cuyahoga River Water Trail and local merchants hope to support it with a Cuyahoga River Brewery Trail.

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Sisters Arelis and Adriana Catala-Vazquez of Stow watch water plunge over the Gorge Dam, slated for removal over the next few years. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

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This video describes Gorge Dam, which straddles Cuyahoga Falls and Akron. Cid Standifer/The Plain Dealer.

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“If you would have told me 50 years ago the river could look like this today, lined with parks, and people would be paddling and sticking their toes in it,” says Elaine Marsh, a Summit Metro Parks water specialist, “I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Among the improvements, crews removed two dams from downtown Cuyahoga Falls in 2013 and a dam from adjacent Munroe Falls in 2006. This after rerouting the river around a Kent dam in 2005. Another removal is underway downstream in Brecksville.

Removal of the 60-foot Gorge Dam in Gorge Metro Park, which straddles Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, is in the planning stages and is not expected to be completed until about 2023 because crews need to remove contaminated sediment under a 34-acre reservoir before knocking down the dam.

The only dams to be spared guard reservoirs in the upper river that provide Akron’s drinking water. Officials say dam removals help restore natural flows, free species to circulate and disperse algae and pollutants.

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Don Capestrain of Jackson Township walks his dog by the Signal Tree in Cascade Valley National Park. Native Americans groomed this bur oak centuries ago as a landmark. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

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Locals love the reborn river. Woodridge High teacher Chelby Benson says, “We’re working on a mural showing what the river has given to us. It opened this part of the country. It ties Cleveland and Akron together. It helps farms flourish.”

Kayaker Don Howdyshell says, “It’s everyone’s river. It’s one more thing that makes Ohio diverse.”

Now visitors can splash along several miles of the river from Kent through Cuyahoga Falls, with help from new liveries. Most of the miles are placid, but in high water one drop is rated class 5, the toughest. In April, the fourth annual Cuyahoga Falls Kayak Race drew contestants from 10 states.

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The Cuyahoga River actually starts north of the North Coast Harbor and makes a big turn in Cuyahoga Falls and the Merriman Valley.

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Don Howdyshell helps stage the Cuyahoga Falls Kayak Race every April. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

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The historic valley also is the site of the roughly eight-mile Portage Path, first used by Native Americans as a link between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the shortest overland route between the Cuyahoga River, which flows north to Lake Erie, and the Tuscarawas River, which flows south to the Ohio River. The path inspired the Ohio & Erie Canal’s creation by 1832, spawning Akron and enriching Cleveland. Industries dammed the river for power, while Cuyahoga Falls’ High Bridge Glens and Caves Park of 1879 drew crowds.

In the second half of the 20th century, many riverside workplaces were vacant and decrepit, and the river reeked from chemicals and garbage. Some locals would slog through in boots or canoes. Others would shy away.

“My parents put the fear of God into me: ‘Don’t go near the river. It’s not clean. You could be sucked under,’” recalls Marti Shoemaker of the nearby Clifford-Shoemaker Funeral Home.

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Cascade Valley Metro Park flanks the Cuyahoga River and draws all sorts of enthusiasts, from hikers to cricketeers. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

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Today, downtown Cuyahoga Falls boasts cleaner water and a stretch of Front Street reopened to cars last June for the first time in 40 years. “There’s an energy in Cuyahoga Falls, with the revival of Front Street and the new businesses rolling in and the river cleaned,” says TJ Mack of Float the River, a new tubing service.

The Merriman Valley boasts new establishments and landmark ones, like Weathervane Playhouse and Papa Joe’s Iacomini’s restaurant. There’s one problem, though: occasional flooding.

“The river calls the shots,” says Akron Ward 8 Councilwoman Marilyn Keith, who represents some of the valley.

While industry fouled the river, supporters say recreation helps it by creating supporters. Kayaker Howdyshell is bent on “getting more river stewards and spreading that passion.”

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Additional coverage of the Cuyahoga River, 50 years after the fire:

No joke: Cuyahoga River is reborn 50 years after fire

The Burning River: A look back at the twisting history of the Cuyahoga (vintage photos)

Readers share memories of the Cuyahoga River 50 years after the 1969 'Burning River' fire

Coming Sunday, June 16: The Cuyahoga River might be at a new confluence, one where it could flow on toward true ecological health, or take a crooked turn into murkier waters. What might it look like in 2069?

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This statue in the Merriman Valley marks the Portage Path, where native Americans used to take their canoes on the continent's shortest route, about eight miles, between the St. Lawrence and Gulf of Mexico watersheds. Plain Dealer staff photo.

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High fives for cricket near the Cuyahoga River. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.

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The Cuyahoga's most challenging rapids pass the Sheraton Suites Akron Cuyahoga Falls. Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer.