PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — When 14 paddlers set out on their nine-day journey, waving dozens of onlookers goodbye, they hoped they were starting something bigger than their planned 250-mile trip.
With the first ribbon cut and first way-finder sign delivered, the Ohio River Way Coalition took their first steps in helping build their vision of an inter-connected water trail along the river, highlighting every town along the way from Portsmouth to Louisville.
For Rhoads Brewster, the chair of the Ohio River Way Coalition, the group’s goals are simple: promote, protect, and celebrate the river and all the communities that line it.
“The goal is to invite and encourage people, especially those interested in adventure tourism, to come and have an adventure on the Ohio River Way,” he said. “Explore the towns the recreational opportunities, etc.”
Paddlers set out from Portsmouth on May 31. (Michelle Alfini/ Spectrum News 1)
As a part of the project, Brewster said the coalition has been working with 18 riverside communities to help them highlight and expand what their towns can offer to take advantage of all the recreational opportunities the Ohio River offers.
“It’s a way to get the civic leadership out and enthused about this project about the potential to draw more tourists to their community,” he said. “We’re encouraging them to develop those projects, then we’ll market the hell out of them.”
The River Way Coalition started their journey with a ribbon cutting in Portsmouth. (Michelle Alfini/ Spectrum News 1)
Now that the communities are getting connected, Brewster said it felt like the most obvious way to show off their work was to get a group in the river and make the trip themselves.
The journey began in Portsmouth, with a ribbon cutting for their leg of the Ohio River Way trail, a pattern they hope to repeat at least once a day at every city they stop at. Then the paddlers set off, the Portsmouth’s mayor, Sean Dunne, joining them on their voyage to Cincinnati.
“He’s really embraced what we’re trying to do,” Brewster said.
Swanson plans to paddle the first half of the trip from Portsmouth to Cincinnati. (Michelle Alfini/ Spectrum News 1)
Another paddler along for the first half of the trip was Bill Swanson.
Having already traveled the river from Cincinnati to Louisville, he said he wanted to see what the other side of the trail offered.
“There’s stretches of this river that, other than the fact that it’s 15 feet higher and the rapids are gone, look a lot like they did 200 years ago,” he said.
Now retired, he said exploring nature and the river and encouraging others to try their own adventures has become a passion of his, which is why he now spends much of his time volunteering with Cincinnati’s Adventure Crew.
“We get kids outdoors throughout the school year and go paddling, hiking, rock climbing,” Swanson said. “A lot of kids have never had that experience before.”
The group plans to arrive in Louisville on June 9. (Michelle Alfini/ Spectrum News 1)
It’s all free of cost through the nonprofit to make adventure sports and outdoor activity more accessible to everyone in Cincinnati. To keep it that way, Swanson wanted to turn his journey into a fundraiser for the next year’s Adventure Crew programming.
“We call it paddling for a purpose,” he said.
The group plans to arrive in Louisville on June 9, with a celebration ceremony marking the trip and all the places that made the journey worthwhile.
“You really can’t have it any other place in America. It’s like a 275-mile national park with all these cultural amenities as well,” Brewster said.
