If you want to run the entire towpath, be prepared for a workout: It spans 20 miles from its beginning in Valley View to the penultimate visitor's center off Smith Road in Akron. But that should be no cause for despair. Almost any piece of the crushed limestone trail makes for a good run. It's usually less crowded than Metroparks trails and, in many places, significantly more beautiful, with the Cuyahoga River edging one side and the wonderfully green Ohio & Erie Canal hugging the other.