The Towpath Trail

The Towpath Trail, where mules once towed flat bottom boats on the Miami and Erie Canal, connects Farnsworth, Bend View, and Providence Metroparks along the Maumee River. At Farnsworth, visitors can see three islands in the river—Indian, Butler, and Missionary—and the ruins of a concrete, earth-filled Interurban Bridge that once carried the interurban rail system across the Maumee, as well as a boat launch and an accessible fishing platform. Bend View offers a scenic vantage point over a dramatic ninety-degree bend in the river. At Providence, a roller dam built across the Maumee to divert water into the canal stands near the Isaac Ludwig Mill, a working, water-powered saw and grist mill, and the Volunteer, a sixty-passenger canal boat towed by mules that is a replica of vessels that once carried people and supplies on the canal system.

Ohio · United States