The Ohio River offers some of the more pleasing Midwest views and vacation opportunities. Along the river's 981 miles stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, are cities, parks and boating offerings vying for visitors' attention. Ohio River-based vacations that are purely recreational abound, as do those incorporating learning focused on the river's interesting socioeconomic and political past.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest metropolitan areas located on the Ohio River, and serves as its starting point of the river, with the Allegheney and Monongahela rivers combining to form it. Start your trip by visiting Point State Park, positioned at the confluence of the three rivers. This national historical landmark preserves land that was strategically important during the French and Indian War. Renovations on the fountain and other areas are to take place in 2010 and 2011, but the park remains open. See the river up close by taking a Venture Outdoors kayaking tour from the company's downtown or North Park locations. Take the Duquesne Incline, an historic cable car, up to the Mt. Washington neighborhood to enjoy elevated night views of the city and all three rivers from the lookout and one of several restaurants there.
Point State Park
601 Commonwealth Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-471-0235
Dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/Parks/point.aspx
Venture Outdoors
304 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Downtown: 419-969-9090
North Park: 724-935-1968
Kayakpittsburgh.org
Duquesne Incline
1220 Grandview Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15211-1204
412-381-1665
Incline.pghfree.net
The Ohio River served as a Civil War boundary separating northern free states and southern slave states. Visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to learn how slaves escaped across the river, relied on sympathetic northerners to hide them and began new lives after the war. Then cross the river by foot into Kentucky via the Purple People Bridge. Have dinner along the riverfront at one the Newport on the Levee restaurants or take a dinner cruise on one of the many riverboats, most of which depart from the Kentucky side.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
50 E. Freedom Way
Cincinnati, OH 45202
877-648-4838
Freedomcenter.org
Falls of the Ohio State Park on the banks of the Ohio River in Clarksville, Indiana, protects 390-million-year-old Devonian fossil beds that are considered one of largest naturally exposed of their kind in the world. An interpretive center explains how the beds were created by rapids that dropped 24 feet over 2 ½ miles. Before the McAlpine dam made the river deeper, the spot used to be the most hazardous river portion to traverse. Fossil collecting is prohibited, but visitors can walk, fish and picnic in the area.
Falls of the Ohio State Park
201 W. Riverside Drive
Clarksville, IN 47129
812-280-9970
Fallsoftheohio.org
The Kentucky Derby isn't the only attraction in Louisville. This Ohio River city offers plenty of other things to see and do. Visit Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing southwest of downtown to get an idea of the historical commercial and cultural significance the river played in this country. You might also want to rent a bicycle--perhaps a passenger surrey or tandem--at Wheel Fun Rentals in Festival Plaza and pedal through Waterfront Park to see local sculptor Ed Hamilton's Lincoln Memorial on the riverbank.
Wheel Fun Rentals
135 E. River Road
Louisville, KY 40202
502-589-2453
Wheelfunrentals.com
Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing
7410 Moorman Road
Louisville, KY 40272
502-935-6809
Riversidelanding.org
