The Canal

Kayaking down the P & O Canal

The P & O Canal

Memorial Day weekend, 2004, we packed up and took our kayaks on a trip down a section of the P & O Canal, a small piece of Ohio history. This is a little bit of waterway navigation and a little of urban exploration, with some pictures thrown in.

Starting from Summit Lake, in Akron, Ohio, USA, we put the kayaks in at the boat ramp in Clearview Park. The parking lot there is free and had plenty of empty spots; it's not a place you would want to leave your car overnight, but during the day it's fine, there are people around and activities going on in the park. Getting to Clearview Park is easy enough, it's right by I-77. Going northbound on I-77, we took the Dart Avenue exit, turned left off the exit and two blocks later pulled into the park on the right.

Summit Lake

[Latitude: 41.0483, Longitude: -81.5442]

The canal can be found on both ends of Summit Lake, one end leads towards downtown Akron, the other goes towards Barberton. The lake itself isn't terribly large, you can paddle the length of it in a few minutes. At the left you can see a picture of the Shanster paddling towards the overpass which marks the transition from the lake to the canal.
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