Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail & Leetonia Beehive Coke Ovens Park

 We started in Washingtonville at the northern end of this 12.5 mile rail trail and walked/rolled south through the forest along a smooth, wide, paved trail. About a 1.3 miles in we came to another parking lot and a gravel trail with a “Coke Ovens” sign. No other information so of course we had to take the trail. Wow! It led to some cool ruins of 200 coke ovens that were built in the 1860s. At one time there were coal mines, blast furnaces, and a company town but everything closed down during the 1930s and now Leetonia is a quiet rural village.

The greenway is accessible. The gravel trail to the coke ovens is very rough due to large loose gravel. I do not recommend trying it. It’s possible to drive to the coke ovens and park in the lot on Cherry Drive Road. Some of the ovens are visible from the parking lot; others can be seen by taking a short paved path.

    

 

The Washingtonville trailhead lot is small. Large RVs should be parked in the Leetonia lot. The parking lot for the coke ovens is large enough for any RV. Trail  40.89869, -80.76375   Ovens  40.88531, -80.756

West Branch Trail

  The West Branch Trail travels 4.5 along a narrow greenway beside the west branch of the Nimishillen Creek and connects seven little parks. We parked in a lot on Stadium Park Drive NW, south of 12th Street NW, and walked/ rolled about a mile south before turning around.

  We were puzzled by the giant blue whale at our turnaround spot but a quick google search solved the mystery. This was the site of Mother Goose Land, a children’s park, that was built the 1950s and dismantled in the 1980s. The whale was too heavy to move. An attempt to revitalize the park in 2014 appears to have failed but it did result in the creation of a somewhat creepy mural along the park wall.

  The path is hard packed finely crushed stone. For the most part rolling is easy but there are a few spots where the stones are larger and loosely packed.

  The parking lot is large enough for any RV.  Park  40.80738, -81.39126

Canton Museum of Art

  With a focus on American art from the 1800s to the present, this small museum presents 12 to 14 exhibitions per year. The museum is located in the Cultural Center for the Arts which also houses the Players Guild Theatre and offers workshops for children and adults.

  Don’t miss the art in the lobby and outside on the museum block of Cleveland and 9th Street.
 

   The museum and the sidewalks are accessible.

   RVs will fit in the parking lot if backed up over the grass or parked lengthwise across the spaces.  Museum  40.807, -81.37454

Penn’s Colony Festival

  The festival, featuring food, crafts, and entertainment, is set in the 1750s and focuses on the events occurring in western Pennsylvania during that time period. We were disappointed because the entertainment was meager and lackluster plus the time period authenticity of many of the crafts was lacking.

 

 

 The ground is surfaced with large gravel making rolling around very difficult even with assistance.

   Parking is in a large grassy field with plenty pf room for any vehicle. Festival  40.73583, -79.81146

Kingwood Center Gardens Mansion

  We visited the gardens in 2015. At that time the mansion was only open on the weekends so we didn’t get to visit it. It’s now open every day and since we were passing close by we stopped to see it.

  The mansion was built in 1926 by Charles Kelley King. King started working at Ohio Brass in 1893 as the first electrical engineer and rose to position of president. The innovations and new ventures that he brought to the company allowed him to amass the fortune that built the mansion.

  The museum is accessible. The tiny elevator that accesses the second floor has a very narrow door and no room to turn around. It does not always stop at the right spot and may leave a high step up.

  The parking lot is large enough for RVs. Garden  40.76198, -82.54866

Garfield Park Conservatory and Gardens

  The conservatory was built in 1955 and was the first aluminum framed building in the United States. It houses a rain forest with palms, orchids, ferns, cacao, vanilla, bananas, coffee trees and other plants that thrive in a hot, moist environment.

  The garden was designed in the style of classic European display gardens with fountains, brick paths, and rows of hedges and flowers – tulips in the spring and annuals in the summer.

  Paved paths meander through the rest of Garfield Park. The park and gardens as a whole are small and it doesn’t take very much time to see everything. 

  The conservatory is accessible. The garden and park have hills so wheelchair users may need assistance.

The parking lot at the north end of the conservatory is large enough for RVs. Gardens  39.73256, -86.14113

 

Vermilion County Museum

  The exhibits in this small museum cover natural history, Native Americans, early settlers, coal mining, farming, and local history with donated artifacts. There’s a special exhibit on Abraham Lincoln that includes a replica of the office that he used from 1847 – 1859 while practicing law in the Eighth Judicial District.

  The museum is accessible with an elevator to the second floor however the entrance is a bit awkward due to sloped sidewalk  and a door that opens outward

   The parking lot is large enough for small RVs. Larger RVs can be parked on the side streets. Museum  40.12726, -87.63583

Champaign Sportsman's Club

  We stopped in Mahomet, Illinois to visit our good friend, Laura. Her apartment doesn’t have parking for large vehicles so we were very happy to find a spot at this quirky little private campground.

  The Sportsman Club is a membership campground that is open to the public. Many of the sites are occupied by permanent or seasonal units but everything is well cared for. There isn’t reservation system - first come/first serve. The sites are not numbered so an employee with a golf cart guides you to your site. Letters are used to designate areas of the campground.

  We were assigned a spot on one of the gravel pads but asked to move onto the grass to be in the shade. This is a very casual place so moving wasn’t a problem. Sites are either full hookup or electric only with water available at numerous faucets and one dump station. Campground  40.19988, -88.37438

McLean County Museum of History

  Housed in a beautiful old courthouse, this museum has exhibits about Abraham Lincoln’s  work as an attorney in McLean County; galleries covering the arrival of immigrants and how they made the county their home; exhibits on the history of McLean County’s courthouses; and a hands-on area for kids.

  The four immigrant galleries focus on individuals and their families, giving museum visitors an in-depth look at the challenges faced and opportunities found as they and their decedents settled into their new homes. Each gallery covers a different experience - living, working, farming, and creating community from the 1820s to the present time.

 The museum is accessible.

  Parking is on the street, free,  and easy to find. Check the signs. Some spaces are limited to 90 minutes. Museum  40.47995, -88.9943