View full sizeA new program called Canalway Quest allows hikers to go on specially specifically themed self-guided tours through Cuyahoga Valley National Park.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is working with a coalition of local park systems to let people see Northeast Ohio through fresh eyes.
The program is called Canalway Quest and tracks natural and historical features of the Ohio and Erie Canal throughout the region.
The concept is called questing, and it allows hikers to go on specially themed self-guided tours.
In all, 22 quests are available. Clues direct one's attention to specific features.
One is called A Quest for a Quarry or Two, revealing the quarrying activity once found in Deep Rock Quarry Metro Park in the Summit County Metro Parks.
Another, written in haiku form, guides trekkers around the Canal Visitor Center in the national park, unveiling the history and mechanics of the canal system itself.
The Cleveland Metroparks have two quests at their Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation in Cleveland. One of them has an alternative version for people with limited mobility.
Stark Parks, the Stark County park district, has one that guides people around its 170-year-old Magnolia Mill.
There's something for everybody, including a counting quest for preschoolers.
"Each quest has a different personality," said Arrye Rosser, an interpretive and education specialist at the national park who manages the questing project.
"Some follow a trail. Some have you twisting and turning and not really sure where you are going," Rosser said. "Each highlights features, some natural, some historical, weaving together a narrative."
It shares some traits with geocaching, but without the technology or treasure hunt. The payoff is the perspective, not trinkets.
Up to a dozen new quests are expected to be added to the current roster of 22.
For more information, go to clevelandmetroparks.com, or nps.gov/cuva and place the word "questing" in the search box at either website, or call Arrye Rosser at 440-546-5992.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-3905