EASY DESTINATION
       HOME      WORLD TRAVEL GUIDE       INDIA TRAVEL GUIDE      ADVERTISE           TRAVEL FORUM

  INDIAN CUISINE     SKI RESORTS     TREKKING      MEDICAL TOURISM      WORLD CITY GUIDE    CYCLING


        UNDERGROUND RAILROAD ROUTE


The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, (a joint project of The Adventure Cycling
Association and The Center for Minority Health), is another historical route, like the Lewis
& Clark Trail Bicycle Route. The route honors the bravery of those who fled bondage and
those who provided shelter. This route passes points of interest and historic sites along
a corridor beginning in Mobile, Alabama, a busy port for slavery during the pre-civil war
era. The route goes north following rivers through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and
Kentucky. Waterways, as well as the North Star, were often used by freedom seekers as a
guide in their journeys to escape slavery. Upon crossing into Ohio, the route leaves the
river to head toward Lake Erie and enters Canada at the Peace Bridge near Buffalo, New
York. In Ontario, the route follows the shores of Lake Ontario and ends at Owen Sound, a
town founded by freedom seekers in 1857. Owen Sound is located on the southern side
of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay. The route is a total of 2027 miles (3264 km) .

The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route is the result of a three year long collaborative
effort between the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) and The Center for Minority Health
(CMH), part of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Together,
they worked to develop a cycling route that would not only contribute to better fitness, but
also to a deeper appreciation for American history.

The Missoula, Montana-based ACA, with its focus on bicycle touring, and the Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania-based CMH, with its aim of promoting health and eliminating health
disparities, seemed unlikely partners in such a project. Dr. Stephen B. Thomas, director
of the Center for Minority Health, noted that the partnership required a huge leap of faith to
join forces between the divergent interests and bring the concept to completion. Yet,
unlikely as it seemed, the two cultures melded to bring the project to a successful
conclusion, creating a combination of history and health promotion that makes the project
compelling.


                               ROUTE

                                 Heading North
This route can be ridden from early spring in the south through September in the north,
depending on the weather. Southern summers will be hot and humid. Both Alabama and
Mississippi are occasionally in the path of tropical storms or hurricanes from June
through November. Afternoon summer thunderstorms are typical and sometimes are
accompanied by high winds and hail. While prevailing winds are generally light, Lake
Erie's shore frequently develops a localized wind pattern that may extend inland for only a
few miles. In southern Ontario, the climate is highly modified by the influence of the Great
Lakes. Spring brings the beginning of the tornado season, and southern Ontario has the
highest frequency of tornadoes in Canada. In summer, thunderstorms can produce heavy
downpours, hail, damaging winds and occasional tornadoes.

The southern terminus of the route is in historic Mobile, Alabama, and follows several
river courses northward. In the 1800s Mobile was a key port for ships to unload enslaved
Africans. The Tensaw River, Alabama River, and Tombigbee River all flow into Mobile Bay,
and were used as guides for freedom seekers to escape northward. Besides the lush
green scenery and the many small towns this route passes through, a host of museums,
historic parks, and visitor centers bring the region's history alive.

Historical road plaques are abundant, and riders can read about Indian massacres and
the German prisoner-of-war camp in Aliceville, Alabama. One can camp at Historic
Blakeley State Park where the last major battle of the Civil War was fought, occurring on
the very day that General Robert E. Lee surrendered in far-off Virginia. There are churches
to visit while pedaling past town squares of courthouses and Confederate memorials, tall
loblolly pines and the brown waters of the slow-moving Tombigbee and Tennessee
Rivers...it's like pedaling through a William Faulkner novel.

Just north of Fulton, Mississippi the route joins the Natchez Trace Parkway for 10 miles.
The area of western Tennessee and Kentucky is rich in American Indian and Civil War
history. This area also has many short roller coaster hills. The Shiloh National Military
Park and the Fort Donelson National Battlefield are both along the route. Riders also
follow "The Trace Road" through the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area,
an expanse of woods where bison roam. No commercial vehicles are allowed on this
road, and a 45 m.p.h. speed limit is strictly enforced. Upon reaching the Ohio River, once
known as the dividing line between the slave and free states, the route then heads
northeast along the river.

                               The Borderland
Riding close to the Ohio River in the tri-state Kentucky/Indiana/Ohio region, cyclists are in
the Borderland, a narrow strip of land lining both sides of the river that saw some of the
Underground Railroad’s most intense activity, and where a concentration of physical
evidence remaining from those days still exists. The towns of New Albany, Lancaster and
Madison in Indiana, and Augusta, Old Washington and Maysville in Kentucky all have
buildings, churches, homes or sites to visit. Roads are generally narrow and winding with
low traffic counts. The route alternates between following the river and heading inland.

At Maysville, Kentucky, the route cross the river into Ohio, and then flows downstream a
few miles to Ripley, which comprises a fifty-five acre National Historic District. Among the
numerous Underground Railroad conductors who were active in Ripley, John P. Parker
and the Rev. John Rankin stand out. Parker, an iron worker and inventor, was a former
slave who had purchased his freedom. As a conductor, he would often slip back into
slave territory to help freedom seekers find their way from Kentucky to Ohio. Rankin, a
Presbyterian minister, along with his l arge family, provided shelter to hundreds of
runaways in their home located high above town on Liberty Hill. Of an estimated 2,000
freedom seekers that passed through Ripley, most stayed with the Rankins. Their house
could be identified at night from the river by the candle glowing in its window.

There is a 16-mile spur into downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The city holds numerous sites
relating directly to Blacks’ struggle for freedom, including the National Underground
Railroad Freedom Center and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The new-in-2004
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is the premier facility in the country
highlighting the heroics and tragedies associated with the Underground Railroad.
Exhibits include the hauntingly evocative Slave Pen, moved to the center from a farm in
Mason County, Kentucky. It is a small log structure that was used to store as many as
seventy-five slaves waiting to be shipped to and sold in the Deep South.

                                     Ohio
From Milford north to Xenia, the route follows a grade that beginning in the mid-1800s
served an “overground” railroad. After the trains stopped running in the 1970s, the route
was turned into a rail-trail for bicyclists and other non-motorized travelers. The trail
parallels the Little Miami State and National Scenic River, creating the additional option of
stashing the bike for a day and checking out the same scenery by canoe. Canoe rentals
and shuttles are available at several area liveries. One of the longest paved rail-trails in
America, the Little Miami Scenic Trail offers fifty miles of the most enjoyable cycling along
the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route. The delightfully car-free trail winds amid an ever-
changing rural landscape of rolling farmlands, picturesque towns, river cliffs, and
hardwood forests. A host of warblers and other songbirds provide background music
befitting the bucolic surroundings, and riders may also spot wildlife like whitetail deer,
coyote, and beaver.

The rapidly growing community of Springboro is reached by taking the Springboro Spur
from Waynesville. It’s a side trip you should not miss. Founded by anti-slavery Quaker
Jonathan Wright in 1815, Springboro evolved into one of the most frequented stopovers
for freedom seekers. It’s estimated that some 4,000 escaped slaves traveled through
Springboro on their flights to freedom between 1815 and 1864. Today, the historic
downtown district holds more documented Underground Railroad safe houses than any
other community in the state, at least one of which can be overnight lodging: the 1815
home of town founder Wright, the oldest home in Springboro. Now known as the Wright
House Bed & Breakfast, there visitors can view a hiding place built for runaway slaves that’
s squeezed between the second story and the attic, as well as inspect an impressive
collection of antiques and artifacts from the period.

The majority of roads in Ohio are rural in nature and tend to be excellent for bike touring,
with smooth, high quality blacktop. The route travels through many small towns where
traffic will increase during commuting hours.

In Wilberforce, an unincorporated community just northeast of Xenia, is the National Afro-
American Museum and Cultural Center. The museum’s mission is to inform and teach
visitors about Black history and culture, beginning with the African origins and stretching
to present times. One highlight is the museum’s small theater that regularly screens the
award-winning Music As a Metaphor, a half-hour video tracking the origins and evolution
of Black music from its African roots to the popular music of the 1950s.

The route skirts the state capital, Columbus, on the west and north sides, but riders
should expect higher levels of traffic along this portion of the route. Continuing into and
through northeast Ohio, some towns with important ties to the Underground Railroad
include Oberlin, Hudson, and Ashtabula.

Oberlin is home to Oberlin College, among the first colleges in the United States to admit
African-American students. Sites in town include the Westwood Cemetery, the final
resting place for many abolitionists and freedom seekers; and the First Church of Oberlin,
which served as the headquarters of the Oberlin Anti-Slavery Society. It was also here that
memorial services were held for John Copeland and Shields Green, two men who were
hung for their participation in abolitionist John Brown’s 1859 raid on the federal arsenal in
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Not far east of Oberlin is Hudson, Brown’s boyhood home.
The early abolitionist movement ran strong in Hudson, which in 2000 became the first
town in northern Ohio to receive a state Underground Railroad historical marker,
commemorating the community’s involvement in the anti-slavery movement.

Ashtabula County occupies the extreme northeast corner of Ohio. Best known for its
numerous wineries and beautiful covered bridges, the area held some three-dozen
Underground Railroad safe houses. The route follows the Western Reserve Greenway, a
“linear park” following the former right-of-way of the Penn Central Railroad. A dozen
Underground Railroad interpretive markers line the twenty-seven miles of the greenway in
Ashtabula County, identifying such sites as the Hubbard House, which is situated
adjacent to Walnut Beach in the city of Ashtabula. The safe house was considered a
northern terminus of the railroad, as escaped slaves would go from there by boat across
Lake Erie to Canada. It’s now home to an Underground Railroad museum that includes a
map showing the locations of all known Underground Railroad stations in the area.

                     Pennsylvania and New York
From Ashtabula into Pennsylvania and New York, riders enjoy a long stretch of waterside
riding along Lake Erie, the southern-most of the five Great Lakes. After turning back inland
south of Buffalo, riders arrive at Orchard Park, home of the Pedaling History Bicycle
Museum and one of the largest collections of antique and classic American bicycles to be
found.

There’s a great deal of history to be explored in the Buffalo/Niagara area, ranging from
that of American Revolution times to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic
Site. This region became a natural funnel for freedom seekers, due to its remoteness, its
proximity to Canada, and the anti-slavery sentiment that ran strong throughout New York.
Consequently, numerous safe houses were active on the U.S. side of the international
border. Buffalo’s best-known Underground Railroad site, is the Michigan Avenue Baptist
Church. In the 1850s, the church building served as an Underground Railroad safe
house, where freedom seekers would hide in the basement waiting to be boated across
the Niagara River to Canada by night.

                                    Ontario
After crossing into Canada, from Fort Erie to Niagara-on-the-Lake the route mainly uses
the Niagara River Recreation Trail and short portions of the Niagara Parkway along the
scenic Niagara River. The route near Niagara Falls is extremely busy in summer, with
many international tourists visiting the area.

Numerous plaques memorializing people, structures, and events important to the
Underground Railroad and other periods of black history are found on or close to the
route as riders proceed north through the Niagara area. Examples include a plaque at the
Queenston Heights Park in Queenston, commemorating Ontario’s first Coloured Corps;
and one in St. Catharines honoring Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman.
Considered the “Moses of Her People,” Tubman lived in this community for nearly a
decade.

Murphy Orchards, found at the end of the 31.5-mile Murphy Orchards Spur, which begins
at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, is a partner in the National Park Service’s National
Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. Enduring legend has it that Charles
and Libby McClew, who established the farmstead here in 1850, served as Underground
Railroad station masters. Among other things, visitors can view a ten-by-twelve-foot
space beneath the barn thought to have served as a hiding place. The farm is open to the
public, and Underground Railroad tours are offered.

Throughout Ontario the route traverses the Niagara Escarpment, resulting in climbs and
descents. This provides a challenge for the fully loaded cyclist, especially when going off
route for services or exploration.

Owen Sound, where the route ends, was known as the final terminal of the Underground
Railroad. It’s where many former slaves found their hard-earned freedom, and many of
them settled in the village originally called Sydenham. Every year since 1862 the
community has held its Emancipation Picnic, which today celebrates two historic
milestones of freedom: the British Emancipation Act of 1834, and the United States
Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.