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In Tremont, the preferred route for the Towpath Trail skirts the bluff overlooking the Inner Belt Bridge -- replacing University Road with the multipurpose trail itself.

(The Plain Dealer)

There may be no better way to see America than by foot or bike -- especially if you want to take in your surroundings instead of allowing them to whiz by through the window of a car, plane, train or bus.

That's what makes the Towpath Trail so special. The 110-mile pathway from New Philadelphia to the future Canal Basin Park on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland is still several years from completion, but Tim Donovan, executive director of Canalway Partners, can see the finish line.

When it's done, the trail will offer a unique travel experience that extends across four counties, takes in the historic remnants of the Ohio & Erie Canal, the natural beauty of Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the rich industrial heritage of Cleveland.

Far from a necessary evil, the brownfield portion of the trail through Cleveland will perhaps be its most intriguing stretch, as it will take travelers within smelling range of the giant ArcelorMittal steel plant and past a reclaimed portion of the river now teeming with dozens of fish species.

One of the final stages of the path must overcome contamination at the Harshaw Chemical Co. site, noteworthy for its role in manufacturing uranium compounds for the development of the atom bomb in the days of the Manhattan Project.

The path will assume an elevated grade in avoiding Harshaw that will allow people to look down upon it.

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Most of the Towpath Trail south of Cleveland is open, while the section through the city is slated for completion within five years, at which point it could become the main artery

for many connector routes, perhaps even to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Donovan said.

Donovan said he has even had an initial conversation about the possibility of using a portion of the Waterfront Rapid Line to connect the trail terminus at Canal Basin Park to North Coast Harbor.

Think about it. A future visitor staying at a downtown hotel could rent a bike, ride it across the still-to-be-built pedestrian bridge to the lakefront, continue east to the river, head south, make a side trip to the zoo, and then continue on into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, among the nation's most-visited national parks - and never have to get in a car.

Every effort should be made to complete the Towpath Trail as soon as reasonably possible.