Ohio River Scenic Byway
In May or early June, Loretta and I spent a day on the Ohio River Scenic Byway . I got there from the National Scenic Byways Online site, which has a long list of nice places to go for a drive.
I don't like the Ohio River Scenic Byway web site all that much. I couldn't do all that much with the maps and the only places en route that they mentioned were sights to see. No food, fuel, etc. Plus, they had planned intineraries, which don't work for us, rather than the descriptions of the areas along the way that I've seen elsewhere. All the same, they had pretty pictures and we knew that we like river valley scenery, so we decided to go.
We spent the night before at my brother ,Harold's, place in Weirton, WV, then found our way to the beginning of the Byway, at the Pennsylvania-Ohio state line east of East Liverpool, Ohio.
We found a turnaround at the state line with a couple of historical markers explaining the beginning of European migration into the Ohio Valley. The Northwest Territory, now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, marked the first new territory added to the original thirteen colonies. The methods used here became the model for settlement all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The historical markers stand close to the beginning of the surveying for this new country.
We drove on to East Liverpool through pretty, hilly country. East Liverpool doesn't show any sign of a tourism industry. It looks a good bit like a mountain town, but with a better economy. We could not find any information at East Liverpool to supplement the web site. Neither the Chamber of Commerce nor the American Automobile Association had anything in writing about the Byway. In fact, we could not find anyone who would admit to knowing of the Byway at all. We never did find even a map of the Ohio River Scenic Byway. We did see signs naming the Byway occasionally. The route itself has a simple layout, at least in this section leading from the beginning to Marietta, Ohio. Just follow State Route 7.
We stopped in Steubenville long enough to look at the museum and reconstruction of Fort Steuben, headquarters of the surveyors. We looked at the blockhouse, which housed the soldiers and the officers' quarter and hospital. We found it worth the $5 admission fee. I suspect that it's busier in the summer vacation season, but we had it quiet and nice.
After that, we mostly just drove down the river. We stopped at the Ohio Valley Mall, away from the Byway near I-70 at Saint Clairsville, to eat, then found our way back to the river.
We made a short stop somewhere near Hannibal at a rebuilt or left over dredging operation, now a sort of museum, which didn't have anyone at all in the area. Admission was free, and we got what we paid for.
Leaving that, I finally realized that the modern equipment in the same area made up a working, modern lock and dam. Loretta took a seat in the open hatch of the minivan as I stood and watched an enormous coal barge enter the lock. I'm not a fan of coal, but the gigantic scale of the shipping operation fascinated me. I can't even guess how many truckloads of cargo fit on one barge, and the operators fasten several of them together, pushing them, in this case, downstream with a tugboat. The precision with which this huge shipment eased into the lock awed me. I know some truckers who can park a big rig within a foot of a wall, squarely within a loading dock, but the pilot of the tug placed his or her tow of barges, many times larger, with almost the same precision alongside the wall of the lock, at an exact speed, with various operations proceeding expressly, specifically as planned. Wow!
After eating from the groceries we'd purchased at the mall, we continued downriver. We passed through occasional small river towns. River towns differ from mountain towns in a couple of ways. For one thing, they have far less steep roads with sharp curves. The fact of the river means that they don't have the same climbs and falls to deal with. Also, usually towns usually prosper more. The river itself provides work for more people in transportation and sometimes in other work, such as fishing or tourism.
The river surprised us all the way in being so industrial. The economies of all the towns appear to be founded in transportation or industrial uses of water. This includes power plants, steel and other businesses not as easily identified from the road.
By the time we reached Marietta, we had begun to tire. The Byway route departs from the river and goes through town somehow. We never figured out how. We got turned around. Intending to find one of two campgrounds referred to on the Byway web site, we somehow found ourselves west of Marietta on Route 7, and we went on to Belpre.
To the best of our knowledge, no campgrounds exist at Belpre. We found a motel. It didn't cost much (exact number forgotten) or give much. No internet, poor and hard-to-operate TV, none too pretty. We crossed the river into the much larger Parkersburg, WV, found a Bob Evans Restaurant for supper, and gave up on the Ohio River Scenic Byway for now.
Incidentally, we came back to Columbus the next day along a pretty,(unofficial) scenic route, at least as far as Zanesville. We followed Route 339 north from Belpre to State Route 60 at Beverly, Ohio, then followed 60 to Zanesville. US 40 and I-70 both run through Zanesville and intersect 60. Because we were still in no hurry, we followed US 22 south to Somerset, then followed State Route 256 all the way into Columbus. This is mostly scenic rolling hills, with cropland where it's level enough.
We're working on following the Ohio River Scenic Byway further downriver sometime. I'm not sure when, but I'd at least like to see the rest of the Ohio (state) section.
I don't like the Ohio River Scenic Byway web site all that much. I couldn't do all that much with the maps and the only places en route that they mentioned were sights to see. No food, fuel, etc. Plus, they had planned intineraries, which don't work for us, rather than the descriptions of the areas along the way that I've seen elsewhere. All the same, they had pretty pictures and we knew that we like river valley scenery, so we decided to go.
We spent the night before at my brother ,Harold's, place in Weirton, WV, then found our way to the beginning of the Byway, at the Pennsylvania-Ohio state line east of East Liverpool, Ohio.
We found a turnaround at the state line with a couple of historical markers explaining the beginning of European migration into the Ohio Valley. The Northwest Territory, now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, marked the first new territory added to the original thirteen colonies. The methods used here became the model for settlement all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The historical markers stand close to the beginning of the surveying for this new country.
We drove on to East Liverpool through pretty, hilly country. East Liverpool doesn't show any sign of a tourism industry. It looks a good bit like a mountain town, but with a better economy. We could not find any information at East Liverpool to supplement the web site. Neither the Chamber of Commerce nor the American Automobile Association had anything in writing about the Byway. In fact, we could not find anyone who would admit to knowing of the Byway at all. We never did find even a map of the Ohio River Scenic Byway. We did see signs naming the Byway occasionally. The route itself has a simple layout, at least in this section leading from the beginning to Marietta, Ohio. Just follow State Route 7.
We stopped in Steubenville long enough to look at the museum and reconstruction of Fort Steuben, headquarters of the surveyors. We looked at the blockhouse, which housed the soldiers and the officers' quarter and hospital. We found it worth the $5 admission fee. I suspect that it's busier in the summer vacation season, but we had it quiet and nice.
After that, we mostly just drove down the river. We stopped at the Ohio Valley Mall, away from the Byway near I-70 at Saint Clairsville, to eat, then found our way back to the river.
We made a short stop somewhere near Hannibal at a rebuilt or left over dredging operation, now a sort of museum, which didn't have anyone at all in the area. Admission was free, and we got what we paid for.
Leaving that, I finally realized that the modern equipment in the same area made up a working, modern lock and dam. Loretta took a seat in the open hatch of the minivan as I stood and watched an enormous coal barge enter the lock. I'm not a fan of coal, but the gigantic scale of the shipping operation fascinated me. I can't even guess how many truckloads of cargo fit on one barge, and the operators fasten several of them together, pushing them, in this case, downstream with a tugboat. The precision with which this huge shipment eased into the lock awed me. I know some truckers who can park a big rig within a foot of a wall, squarely within a loading dock, but the pilot of the tug placed his or her tow of barges, many times larger, with almost the same precision alongside the wall of the lock, at an exact speed, with various operations proceeding expressly, specifically as planned. Wow!
After eating from the groceries we'd purchased at the mall, we continued downriver. We passed through occasional small river towns. River towns differ from mountain towns in a couple of ways. For one thing, they have far less steep roads with sharp curves. The fact of the river means that they don't have the same climbs and falls to deal with. Also, usually towns usually prosper more. The river itself provides work for more people in transportation and sometimes in other work, such as fishing or tourism.
The river surprised us all the way in being so industrial. The economies of all the towns appear to be founded in transportation or industrial uses of water. This includes power plants, steel and other businesses not as easily identified from the road.
By the time we reached Marietta, we had begun to tire. The Byway route departs from the river and goes through town somehow. We never figured out how. We got turned around. Intending to find one of two campgrounds referred to on the Byway web site, we somehow found ourselves west of Marietta on Route 7, and we went on to Belpre.
To the best of our knowledge, no campgrounds exist at Belpre. We found a motel. It didn't cost much (exact number forgotten) or give much. No internet, poor and hard-to-operate TV, none too pretty. We crossed the river into the much larger Parkersburg, WV, found a Bob Evans Restaurant for supper, and gave up on the Ohio River Scenic Byway for now.
Incidentally, we came back to Columbus the next day along a pretty,(unofficial) scenic route, at least as far as Zanesville. We followed Route 339 north from Belpre to State Route 60 at Beverly, Ohio, then followed 60 to Zanesville. US 40 and I-70 both run through Zanesville and intersect 60. Because we were still in no hurry, we followed US 22 south to Somerset, then followed State Route 256 all the way into Columbus. This is mostly scenic rolling hills, with cropland where it's level enough.
We're working on following the Ohio River Scenic Byway further downriver sometime. I'm not sure when, but I'd at least like to see the rest of the Ohio (state) section.
posted by Calvin & Loretta | 9:24 AM
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