from beaver marsh to boardwalk
Speaker: Rob Bobel
Date: June 24, 2025 at 7pm Location: University of Akron Field Station located on the Bath Nature Preserve 4160 Ira Rd, Akron, OH 44333 (the Field Station is located at the end of the drive) Topic:
“From Beaver Marsh to Boardwalk”, the story of the design, construction and development of the Ira Road Beaver Marsh Boardwalk, one of the most visited and well-loved sections of the Towpath Trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. When the area became part of the national park in the 1975, it was the site of an auto repair facility. Later the facility moved out, the site was cleaned up and the beaver moved in, creating an extensive wetland. A wetland that now had to be crossed for the construction of the new Towpath Trail without destroying the fragile habitat the beavers had created. This is the story of that transformation. |
Biography:
Rob Bobel worked as the Park Engineer for Cuyahoga Valley National Park for 30 years, retiring in 2017. He worked on the design and construction of 20-miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, the rehabilitation of the Valley Railway and restoration of eroded sections of the Cuyahoga River among other projects in CVNP. He and his wife have written or edited a number of hiking guides to trails in northeast Ohio, including the popular Towpath Companion: A Traveler’s Guide to the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and Trail Guide: Cuyahoga Valley National Park. For 15 years he was a Supervisor for the Summit County Soil and Water District, eight of those years as the Board Chair. He is an avid birder and regularly volunteers to gather local bird census data. In addition to hiking and birding, he enjoys traveling, cycling, and most recently woodcarving using local avian fauna as subjects. |